Don’t. Over. Think. It.
That was the message I took from Wednesday’s post. For those who need to play catch up, do so here, then come back to this post.
Since writing Wednesday’s post, I’ve observed interesting phenomena in my day-to-day life and they all point to the message presented in the title of this post.
Don’t. Over. Think. It.
On Saturday, October 9th I turned 27.
On Saturday, October 9th I also threw away my vision board.
As I laid in bed in the early hours of my birthday I stared at a dream for my life that had become outdated. The board representing a life that I’d planned to build with a partner who had bowed out since its inception. Seeing it daily was more of a reminder of where I’d failed than anything I wanted for my future. I’d spend hours in bed staring at it, wondering how I could get back to where I was when it was created. That happy evening I spent creating it on my bedroom floor under the proud watchful eye of my then significant other. Nights like that no longer existed in my life. And as the days went by, the girl who made the board existed less and less. It was for that girl who sought to acquire things and conquer the world. A girl that I am no longer.
If you haven’t read part one of The Vision Board Challenge, you can get caught up here.
As promised, here are the boards of my e-Sisters who also participated in the Vision Board Challenge:
Creating this vision board has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me. For starters, it helped me get over a huge fear I’ve had since surviving my emotional breakdown: committing to a vision for my life. At the beginning of 2008, I set forth New Years Resolutions and a plan to put myself on the “path to success” and by the end of February 2008, my entire life had fallen apart. I didn’t want to make the mistake of creating another plan and killing myself with the pressure to see it through. In creating this vision board, I realized that my fears were giving still giving depression control over my life. Even if I no longer had any of the symptoms, by holding back for fear of relapse, I was doing myself more harm than good. In order to truly defeat the illness, I’d have to completely reclaim my life and that included taking on new challenges.
What also made this project so wonderful were the women who participated. In 2009, I had a to deal with the betrayal from a new female friend that made me put a “hiring freeze” on new friendships with women. I’ve had the same solid, reliable group of girlfriends for ten years and I’d decided that they were all that I needed. My new group of “e-Sisters” have helped to reaffirm my faith in the power of the female bond and reminded me what a group of focused young women can accomplish when we treat each other as friends and not competitors. I truly believe that I am walking into 2010 with more power and positivity than I’ve had in quite sometime. For this, I am eternally grateful.
For those reading, I recommend that you grab a group of friends and design your future. I promise you will not regret it!
I’ve been wanting to make a vision board since the summer, but I had difficulty wrapping my mind around actually putting my dreams on paper. Looking back, I realize how hectic my life was back then and it was difficult to really quiet myself to ask the important questions about my future. I also think that my fear of plans had a lot to do with it. I’m hesitant to put things on paper because I like to take life one day at a time. Not that I’m without an overall direction, but as I’ve stated on numerous occasions, plans make me anxious.
While perusing some of my favorite blogs earlier this week, I came across Aaronica’s Vision Board post. I’d been playing with the idea of my own board but was still harboring some fear about committing to a vision. I found her post inspiring and it certainly made me consider my own a little more, but I still wasn’t quite ready…
On Thursday. I noticed that one of my e-Sisters JG, was tweeting about putting together her vision board and I felt myself become more inspired. I mentioned to her and another one of our homies, Jenifer, that I wanted to do a vision board as well. Next thing I knew, I had a deadline of Sunday to complete my board. Sunday? Four days to plan my future? Yikes!
I wrote down some keywords and ideas that I wanted to convey and on Friday, I got to work. Surprisingly, once I started looking for pictures, the process became easy. I simply chose the images that made my heart smile. I also used power words and included some of my favorite quotes. (From gospel, rap and love song lyrics to writer’s quotes to pastor’s quotes. It was so authentically me. I loved it.) What made the process even more rewarding is that SLB happened to be with me when I put the board together. Explaining and sharing my vision with him was the icing on the cake.
I finished the board last night, and (drum roll please…..)
Synopsis
Coming soon: Part Two of the Vision Board challenge which will feature the boards of the wonderful women who took this journey with me. Shout out to JG, Jenifer and Alissa. Can’t wait to show off your boards!!
Just a girl with a writing habit, using a blog to share my stories and passions. These are the tales, interests, and observations of the quiet nerd in the corner of the bookstore; the professional woman strutting down the street in slacks clutching her Blackberry; the dork in bed by 9pm on a Saturday night; and the B-girl in the middle of the dance floor getting down in her sensible shoes. Welcome to the world of The Skinny Black Girl.
