How To Make A New Year's Vision Board, And Why

My ritual for 18 years

Hello friends.

I have to be honest, I'm slouching a bit into the New Year. I'm feeling preemptively tired. I have my work cut out for me in a couple of different ways— body, mind, heart. I can already tell that staying connected to current events in a productive way after, oh, say, January 20, is going to be A LOT.

Can you feel me?

But then I say, thank you, past self! Because I remember I have an established practice to convene community and call in inspiration.

Toward the end of 2007, I was looking for a change in my work and life.

I impulsively signed up for a weekend creativity workshop, a two day “Creative Jumpstart Boot Camp!” I think it might have been on Craigslist! It was that long ago. It was held in this woman’s apartment in Park Slope, over two Saturdays, and we were told to bring magazines, a glue stick, and a pair of scissors.

A magical thing happened, which was that I walked in and there was another woman there, a friend who I hadn’t seen since college, who had traveled all the way from Vermont to be there.

That Saturday, we made vision board collages, letting the randomness of the images in the magazines speak to us, and illuminate our heart’s desires.

I took it home. I hung it on my wall. Within a few months I had a new, exciting job, and within a year I was starting to try for a baby (a process that would take some time, but still, it was a big step for me, feeling ready.)

2024

I kept making vision board collages at the beginning of every New Year. Within a few years, I had started hosting vision board parties every January.

2023

My friends opened an event space and started hosting the vision board party at their place. During the pandemic, we did it over Zoom.

2022

A vision board party isn’t like other parties. It lasts several hours. People go deep. It's really vulnerable to come out and say what you're most hoping for: love, passion, adventure, money, a baby, a new home.

A lot of people go home and hang their own collages on their walls too. I love to see them at my friends’ houses.

2021

Here’s the magic of a vision board:

You may have something definite in mind, a goal for the next year. You search for an image to represent it, but you can’t quite find what you’re looking for. You land on something a little bit different, maybe even better.

Or you have handfuls of beautiful possibilities but they just won’t quite fit. You have to make some choices, kill some darlings. A year is only so long.

Or you’re drawn to something you didn’t expect. It ends up changing the whole composition.

2020

We are co-creators, curators, but not masters of the future. This practice keeps me humble, and also excited about possibilities.

Some tips if you'd like to host a Vision Board party of your own:

-Get a 50 pack of poster boards.

-Encourage people to bring their own magazines, and especially scissors. You don't want a shortage.

-I like white glue, but other people like glue sticks. I also like clear packing tape. Sometimes I will laminate the whole thing with tape so it lasts the year. Especially if there's glitter.

- You want a mix of fashion and travel and art and nature mags. Catalogs are just ok. The party doubles as a way to clear out all the piles in your house.

-Serve finger food. It's good if this party goes from afternoon til evening. I often do it on a Sunday. You don't have to offer alcohol. It's nice to be supportive of people's New Years resolutions.

-Not all of your friends will be into this; make sure you invite people who you think would really love it, and they will make time for it every year.

-”Kids are welcome if they can respect the general vibe.” It's not an age thing, we've had kids from 5 to 15 who loved it.

Have a wonderful New Year’s.