The word “truth,” which I had cut from an issue of Oprah Magazine, fell off one of my vision boards. Yes, I have made vision boards. Before this practice was glamorized by Ms. Winfrey, a good friend of mine held classes in her apartment leading groups in imagining our desires and representing them on poster board. This stuff works, and I’m talking about way before the release of The Secret.
I’m not sure which one it fell off of either. The one from my friend’s class in 2003 was all about my upcoming move accross the country and my desire to be a mother. (“Did you have to put ‘morning sickness’ on there?” My mom aptly inquired…) Did truth fall from here, amoungst my plea for “pregnancy,” “love,” “romance” and “real life?” Had it gone missing somewhere between “So long, Farewell, Goodbye, San Francisco,” and “Naked Maine Summer?” Maybe it got lost from its place between, “Empowering,” and “WOMAN CONFIDENCE.”
You can see where I was headed with this particular pictorial of my dreams. Though it is mostly words strung together—a patchwork of meaning for me only, perhaps—there are some soothing pictures included: flowers, trees, beaches, babies, myself as a toddler, and even one of my mother in labor with the word, “intense,” under it. I sure got that part right. Luckily I also included, “brave,” “I can do anything,” and the always wise, “Never say never.”
It could just as easily have fallen from my more recent vision board. This episode was spurned on by the episode of Oprah featuring the vision board phenomenon. When I saw that Jenny McCarthy had put, “Get on Oprah,” on her vision board, (about her book) and it had happpened, I thought, “Damn straight, get out the glue sticks!” This time I was with my mom and a dear friend. We were surrounded with magazine scraps for the afternoon, on a day that fell between the birth of my son (see, that other board had worked!) and the election of President Obama. It was August or September maybe? I was still sleep deprived, but not a total zombie. The campaign was going well—it was a time of great hope.
My focus is different here, more succinct. I have spotlighted areas of my life: work, travel, food, social change, parenthood. I insanely represent a second child (getting ready to remove that, sorry universe). I implore Obama to win (check!). I outline fantastic success and wealth (working on it). I specifically request a new Toyota SUV (check!). I ask myself and the world once again, “Can’t we all just get along?” Truth obviously belongs here too.
So maybe I’ll just stick it on a new board when I am ready to plan out the rest of my future.
