Resolutions, Shmesolutions: Invent a world instead

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This year, don’t waste all of that bright bubbly energy on fixing your body or changing the way you balance your checkbook: change your whole life.

This year, instead of making resolutions, create a new world and step into it. All you need is a vision you won’t give up on – and a world that you won’t be able to resist living in.

Here’s how:

1) Get quiet. Allow images to drift toward you, watch for flashes and glimmers of what could be. Let them come all day long. Let them bubble up through your dreams.

 

  • I do this while sipping warm, comforting mugs of tea with cream.
  • I like silence. You can add music if you like.
  • Keep your notebook close by.

2) Follow the energy. You know that little burst of excitement that flares when something new arrives? That’s guidance. Don’t let it get away.

3) Get curious. Keep asking: what is this? Scan it for detail; for contours and color, texture and temperature. What shining something has caught your inner eye?

4) Start taking notes. Even if it’s a bit fuzzy around the edges, write elaborate descriptions of the details that you can discern – invent the ones that you can’t quite make out.

  • I am wearing black yoga capri pants, my feet are bare, I’m walking across a large sunny room – the floors are hardwood, the walls are white – except for one wall of French doors which open onto a balcony overlooking the ocean. Over my shoulders, there is draped, a sheer silk shawl, the color of sea.

5) What else? As you write, keep looking at the image and asking: What else? When this vision manifests, what will I be wearing? How will my hair be styled? What rooms will I walk through? Who will be with me? What will I eat? What will I see when I look out the window?

5) Make things up. As your vision forms, there will be things that you can’t quite make out. Make them up. For example, in my own vision, I don’t have any idea what the other rooms in that beachfront house are like. I can’t quite make out the exact location of the kitchen or the color of the bathroom tiles. That’s okay. Take out your mental paintbrush and play.

6) Feel into the vision. Use all of your senses. See it, hear it, smell it, taste it. Feel your vision surrounding and enfolding you. You are a part of the vision and it is a part of you. This is the first step to every single thing that’s ever been created.

7) Ask for it. Write, speak or pray your request to whatever deity, prophet or cosmic force you believe in. Do it in the way that feels the most natural and comfortable for you.

 

  • I take it to God: (because I believe in God.)
  • I speak out loud. You don’t have to.
  • I say: God, I know that you can do anything. I really want this, I love it already and I’ll do anything you guide me to do to make it happen.

8) Reconnect to your love for the vision. Let it flood your heart. This strengthens and clarifies your commitment and makes you a magnet, drawing the vision from idea into form.

9) Let what comes come. I end every prayer with: This or something better is streaming toward me now. So be it, so it is. In this way, I release control of the outcome. I let the angels guide me the rest of the way.

This is kind of like letting someone you trust steer the car while you step on the gas pedal… or vice versa (cuz you’ll take turns with God – steering, and driving.)

10) Hold the vision and let it in. Continue to hold the vision and follow the guidance that comes, allowing the world you’ve created to form around you and within you. 

In this way, with imagination, a strong vision and faith, all worlds that have ever been made were made.


 

 

 

 

{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }

Dr. Ben December 30, 2010 at 3:21 pm

Great post, Amy! Love how you draw the reader in to a whole new way of starting off the New Year and “inventing a world instead”!

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Amy December 30, 2010 at 3:52 pm

Thanks, Ben. It’s how I think – you know? I can’t really conceive of things any other way but to dream them into being through story and imagery. The vision board process is really helpful to me. Glad you stopped by!

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Lisa Merrai December 30, 2010 at 3:49 pm

I absolutely love this. I am planning my 2011 vision board and you gave such great tips! You are a real inspiration to me, Amy! Thank you!

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Amy December 30, 2010 at 3:51 pm

Hooray! So glad it helped you. Im making my board tonight. Gonna videotape the process. Fun! :)

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Jen Brentano December 30, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Amy, I love how you wordsmith this so beautifully! I create my world as well using vision boards. Your description is breathtaking. I usually go through this process 3-4 times a year. Just to see what is already unfolding, what is yet to come, etc. It’s nice to see the progress.

Blessings to you and yours and Cheers!

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Amy December 30, 2010 at 4:02 pm

Thanks so much! I see that you’re building a new blog – let us know when it’s up. I’d love to see your work! :)

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Jen Brentano December 31, 2010 at 5:15 am

Hi Amy, I have a blog right now on blogspot but it isn’t professional and up to par – yet! Thanks again for the great post and I am really looking forward to connecting further.

Blessings!

Danielle Smith December 30, 2010 at 6:31 pm

Amy…. This is easily one of the most beautiful versions of a vision board experience I have read… And honestly, your step by step is the only one I have seen that actually feels peaceful and inspiring as I believe the New Year should be…. And compared to the stress that normally accompanies the rush to reinvent, repurpose and refocus…. This is divine. Happy New Year my friend!

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Amy December 31, 2010 at 5:51 am

Thank you, Danielle – and thanks for inspiring me all year with your beautiful, clear work with video blogging. It is ONLY because of you (Oh, and shelly Kramer’s constant nagging, of course) that I was brave enough to let anyone see my face. I’m so grateful for your support. Happy New Year!

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Judi December 31, 2010 at 8:46 am

Amy, I am so happy to have met you and then to discover your wonderful writing. You have the ability to calm me, lull me into slowing down to reflect on my life. You are a love.

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erin margolin January 6, 2011 at 4:36 am

I agree with Danielle—this is divine. I have my pile of old magazines. I want to get started today. Impeccably written and described, Amy. Loveliness. Sighing. Thank you.

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Amy January 6, 2011 at 6:10 am

Thank you, again and again. I’ll be posting a video of my vision board adventure as soon as I can figure out how to upload it (memory is full) and how to cut the hours of footage into anything worth sharing. What a process it’s been!

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Neven Jones January 19, 2011 at 12:08 pm

I love this post. Also I haven’t head the word “oaktag” in a long time. This is something I really need to do for myself. I loved being a stay at home mom, but now my son is growing and it’s time to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Thanks for your inspiration.

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Amy January 19, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Thank YOU for stopping by and leaving a comment. If you’d like to see my (never) finished vision board, you can find it here: http://174.132.89.104/~oscaramy/365-days/january-16-my-vision-board/

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