It was a Very Good Year: Lucia's 2014 Surprises

As I prepare to create Visioning® for 2015, I am struck by how everything on my 2014 Visioning Board (a 4-part collage) came true. What really struck me were the surprises, so I want to share those with you. In the "grab what grabs you" phase of shopping through magazines, I often have something specific in mind. Other times, I follow my intuition and select images because I want more of what I think they represent in my life. But sometimes, life throws a whole new meaning at me as the image unfolds into reality over time. 

Lucia's 4-part Vision Board 2014

A cluster of flowers blooming in the upper right hand section signified that I wanted more cut flowers around the house and was looking forward to my iris garden due to bloom in the spring.What I didn't know was that I'd take up water color painting again, after a long hiatus (inspired by seeing a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit) and that I'd be painting mostly flowers (mixed bouquets as well as iris from my own garden). What a joy that has been! 

Other surprises had to do with Health and Balance. A woman is meditating and beneath her another woman is floating in a pool. The words Balancing Act...LIFE...well, well, well... WATER (Don't) think tank appear next to these images. While creating the collage I was thinking: "I need to meditate more to balance a lot of left-brain work I've been doing". (I am a long-time meditater.) I thought the meditating woman meant I'd be doing more sitting meditation. 

Unbeknownst to me at the time, 

the answer to "meditate more" was in the floating figure. I was already using a physical therapy current pool at my local gym on a regular basis, so the woman in the pool illustrated a conscious choice to continue pool exercise. What I didn't realize was that my exercise in the pool (which I have all to myself) has become some of the best meditation I can remember. After I've done my exercise routine for physical strengthening and flexibility, I allow my body to move in any way it wishes. Through this spontaneous dance in warm water, I often enter a trance state of "no thought" which has become a wonderful form of meditation for me.   

Another surprising outcome grew from the image of a young woman sitting on suitcase.

She spoke to me about a need for more recreational travel in my life. I wasn't sure where I'd be going, but I did notice that her luggage consisted of old vintage style suitcases like the ones we had when I was a kid. Not the canvas bags on wheels I travel with now on planes. 

It crossed my mind that this woman might be waiting for a train. Lo and behold! In the summer I found myself on a train from the central coast to visit friends in San Francisco! My first train ride in many years. Although the upper left portion of the 4 collages was dedicated to Vacation Travel that I had already planned (Cabo San Lucas in December) with pictures of pools and tropical lushness, the summer train trip was unexpected and quite a surprise.

These serendipitous happenings show how we get previews of coming attractions by following our hearts and intuition. 

2014. It was a very good year, indeed. As this photo of a theater marquis announces in a photo on my studio wall: You are the writer, director and producer of your dreams. 

Looking forward to Visioning® 2015 and watching it unfold. 

Join me in creating your 2015 at my upcoming workshop: Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your DreamsSunday, January 25, 10 AM - 5 PM at Ruby Dragon in Morro Bay, CA. To register, call (805) 772-1100 or email rubydragonrocks@aol.com

On Sunday February 1, 11 AM - 6 PM,  I will be conducting a workshop in Southern CaliforniaAwakening Your Intuition: BodyMind Healing and LIving from Higher GuidanceKindred Spirit, Claremont, CA  To register call (909) 626-2434

Visioning(R) and Intuition Road

Here's a typical detour on intuition road:

"I didn't end up walking around the grounds or into the national park as much as I planned. I could say the snow deterred me. But is seems as though I wanted to be deterred. I spent most of most of my time on that blue couch devouring self-help books about writing and creativity while my window pane frosted. I remember thinking, 'You're spending money to sit on a couch and read?' But reading seemed like the thing to do. 

Gradually I sank into the space, holed up in my womb of a cabin, in a blanket of quietness, protected by snow and thick beams of wood. I stopped fighting myself, pushing myself to walk or write or instantly settle down into my expectation of tranquility. I read and I cried and I stared at pine trees. It seemed like the thing to do....

That trip broke my spell of doubts and heaviness and the larger pattern I'd had in my life of being nice to myself only when I had succeeded at something." - Tama J. Kieves, This Time I Dance!

In this scenario we learn that life has it's way with us regardless of where we think we are headed. Tama paid for a retreat to hike and write. Instead she ended up snowed in, crying and nurturing herself. After her pricey retreat weekend, you know she felt cleansed.

Visioning(R) is yet another way our heart's guidance speaks. Let's face it, we're multi-tasking, multi-planning, goal-getting people and we need help listening. A vision collage lets our creative, intuitive voice whisper loud and clear. 

"Intuition speaks to us in dreams mental images, symbols, feelings, extra sensory perception, and artistic expression. Actually, intuition is the prompting from our creative self, speaking through the voice of the creative conscience. Our innate intuitive wisdom points toward what is going to unfold in the future. Visionaries have reported that their collage were uncannily precise. After their dream came true, pictures and phrases that appeared irrational or impossible when they made their collage turned out to have great validity. Composing your Vision collage is a great technique for strengthening your intuition, an ability that we all have, but often disregard."-- Lucia Capacchione, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

If we take the time to Vision what we want in life, first...then listen with our eyes and hearts, instead of resisting action, we flow. Instead of getting wrapped up in our puny preferences, we open ourselves. Instead of pitching a fit because we can't hike outside, we hang out in a cabin and gain insights into how to take care of ourselves.

Intuition is made into a big ole something-something because when it comes down to actually following this voice, it doesn't seem all that sexy. That is, the action step is often what we've been avoiding in the first place! Call that person, now. Make that appointment, today. Did red flag number two just appear on the steps of your great new place? Better ask the tough questions before signing that lease.

I think of intuition as allowing ourselves to be led on a glorious journey. We may have to hang out in a couple of waiting rooms, but when we step off the plane in Shangri-la, hey, we're in Shangri-la!

Find out where your intuition is leading you by joining Lucia's next workshop:

Awakening Intuition, Body Mind Healing and Living From a Higher Guidance.

Sunday, October 11, Morro Bay, CA. 10am-5pm. Location given at time of Registration.

805-772-1100. $95.00. Details at: www.luciac.com

Dorothy Segovia is a Visioning(R) coach, blogger and author of My Body, My Car:How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents. Visit her at www.writeinside.com.