Make It: Dream Board!

About four years ago, each member of our family (there are three of us: Aryn, Benji, and Roxie) made Dream Boards. Sometimes called Vision Boards, they’re meant to show a visual cornucopia of your littlest-to-biggest desires.

We were having so much fun, we filled both sides! (FYI: this makes it difficult to display…) This process was pure Big Dream Energy: digging through old magazines, calendars, and journals, cutting things out, and finally gluing them together to create a collage of ideas that were just on the cusp of what could be, if we just believed (and took the next steps).

Roxie’s board was about 70 percent dogs. And, I tell ya, these things work! Not one year later, much to Benji’s and my surprise, we said yes to letting a 60-pound animal (Athena the bernedoodle) live inside our house and become a member of our family! I wonder what Athena would put on her Dream Board? Probably treats, toys, squirrels, and scritches.

Winter is a great time for Big Dream Energy. We come to the year’s end and start a new one, all in the same season. And honestly, Big Dream Energy goes hand-in-hand with “Defining your Enough” – because maybe your enough level should include more in the fun arena (big dreams!), and less in the vacuuming the floor arena, eh?

No matter what your days hold, remember: All you can do is all you can do.

I said this to Roxie one day, and she said, “Oh, I like that much better than, ‘Do your best.’” To which I replied, “I know, right?! Because sometimes we don’t have our best to give!”

So: We encourage you to build your dream board with your enough in mind. Be honest about how much you want to give to yourself and others to achieve these goals. Then get after it. You are inspiring and amazing!

Making your Dream Board:

We’ve made some Dream Board prompts to help inspire your own board at home (and make it look pretty cute). Download them here, then have fun!

Inspiration:

• What have you achieved recently? Looking at this can help you focus on what you are actively trying to improve in your life.

• Don’t go over(dream)board. Too much can be overwhelming. Consider your biggest strengths – play into those.

• Consider different aspects of your life – home, work, relationships, passions, hobbies – and build your goals / dreams around what’s most important.

• Ask yourself what you want to: try, learn, experience, accomplish, start, stop.

Creation:

• Choose your base – poster board, construction paper, one side of a cardboard box.

• Choose your items for your board – are you cutting up magazines or using real photos or drawing things on? We did a combination of all of the above for ours.

• Arrange your items – Maybe you want to put your biggest dreams front and center? Or items that aligns with your strongest values? There’s really no right or wrong. Glue, tape, or staple them on, along with the coinciding labels we made, if you like.

Note: We encourage you to use paper because paper is awesome, but you could also make your board online with Pinterest or Canva or a vision board-specific app (there are many).

Display & Visualization:

Display your board somewhere you see it regularly. Each day, pick one or two images and imagine your life if you achieved those goals. What steps do you need to take to make it happen? Try to bring yourself one step closer, and always believe it is possible.

Happy creating and dreaming! xox – Aryn