10 Minute Visioning Yields Big Results

One of the best things about being part of the Visioning(R) community is that all of the graduates keep in touch by group emails. Lucia recently shared that when she wanted to journal while away from her house, all she had was a magazine and pen. So she wrote directly in the magazine. After she journaled, she realized that the images that were on page reflected exactly how she was feeling.

I decided to give the technique a try.

I spent Sunday morning being out of sorts. Although I was productive, I still didn't feel good and couldn't make a decision about what I wanted to do. So I wrote out a practical shopping list for the local hardware store and headed out for the day. I ended up noshing on breakfast for lunch at Starbucks. While I was there I was inspired to text a coworker to meet me ­at Famous Footwear. I had 20 minutes before they arrived. This journal exercise took less than 10.

First, I used my intuition and chose the magazine I wanted to use before leaving the house. Then, I focused on what I needed to know and quickly flipped through the magazine pages while at Starbucks. Something about the image of an actor tugging at her hair caught my attention. Since I know the actors name, I simply addressed her with my Dominant Hand and let the non-dominant hand respond.

DH: Dear Kate, what do you have to say to me?

NDH: I am able to focus on one thing at a time if I want to feel good. Try it. You'll like it.

DH: If I go to Ulta, I'll focus on Kerasilk. At Famous Footwear, I'll focus on shoes! Thanks for your truth. I appreciate you.

This was exactly what I needed to hear.

While I  have been very productive, lately I haven't been having much fun. I've also felt scattered and isolated. I don't have many connections in this new town, so texting co-worker Elisabeth (who brought her two daughters) was exactly  what I needed. While shopping, I focused on the kids, and only skimmed the racks. Although they only stayed for a short time, their visit gave me energy. After they left, I continued shopping in the spirit of fun. While I did end up with several items on my list, fun connection is what I actually wanted.

This morning I tried it again. I selected a magazine based on intuition, not my left-brain. Then I turned the pages quickly, skimming until I found an image that grabbed me. I held a  general question of "show me what I need today," which is Monday. The first thing I noticed was an article that answered a different question, which I pulled out to read later, and continued turning pages.

I journaled with my dominant hand, asking the first question.

DH: Hey kids, what do you have to say to me today?

NDH: We are your fun reminders. Both of us like to play, after all! Take us with you. We are your fun strength. Focus on feeling good.

DH: What map are you looking at?

NDH: The fastest path to fun. It's not a straight line! It's a breath, each in the present moment. We love presents!

DH: I do too. Thank you so much! I love your wisdom.

These answers spoke volumes. 

I did smile a lot more during work while I kept the over-serious accounting Self focused on the books. 
I felt drama-free, yet productive.

Tomorrow, for even more fun, I'll remember to bring my iPod.

blog by Dorothy Segovia, certified Visioning(R) coach and author of My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents. www.writeinside.com

Join Lucia at her next workshops: For a detailed description about the 1st workshop visit Lucia's website and click on the Calendar.

Family Constellations,Transgenerational Healing workshop. 
Sunday, March 22, 2015   10 AM - 5 PM
Morro Bay, CA at Ruby Dragon 
To register: Call (805) 772-1100
Fee: $100 per person

Inner Child, Inner Family

Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Relationships

A one day workshop      April 19,  2015    1 - 6 PM

(based on her bestselling book, Recovery of Your Inner Child)

Kindred Spirits, Claremont, CA

Fee: $120.00 (includes drawing and writing materials)
To register: Call Kindred Spirits  (909) 626 - 2434

Vision the Holiday

This the perfect time to create a vision board. Regardless of past holidays, family wants, Hallmark images and advertisements for the latest gadget, how we feel about the holidays is our choice.There are countless ways to celebrate, the important thing is that you feel like you are celebrating, not obligating.



 It is not necessary to make a large scale collage. A small 8 1/2 by 11 collage will suffice.  Here are a quick review of the steps.

1. Make a wish.
2. Search for images and words.
3. Focus on the vision.
4. Compose the design.
5. Explore and find order in creative chaos.
6. Create the collage.
7. Articulate the vision.
8. Reinforce the dream.
9. Embrace the reality.
10. Celebrate the dream come true.

So what feeling do you want to create this holiday? Lots of activity with family and friends is one way. Spending some time alone to reflect or taking an evening walk to see the lights is another. Eggnog by the fire listening to music is yet a different choice. By taking time to collage with your Creative Self, you are sure to cut through the plethora of decisions if you let your heart guide you.

Finally, the Mayo clinic has great tips for beating the stress. Not surprisingly, acknowledging your feelings is at the top.


Celebrate, appreciate and create.

Dorothy Segovia is a certified Visioning(R) Coach and author of My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Obstacles. Read more of her writing at www.writeinside.com.

Visioning Step 10: Celebrate the Dream Come True

"There's no way to know when it's the right time to do this step. You'll have to decide. It depends upon how your dream unfolds and at what point you feel the need to start celebrating. It may take a few weeks, months or more, depending upon the complexity of your heart's desire. The creative self has its own internal rhythm that gives us what we need when the time is right. Dream your dreams, do your work, but have patience and faith as well. Turn the results over to your creative self and trust the process. And remember that it is a process; there's no end point. Celebration occurs when you feel like acknowledging yourself, your creative self, and others who have helped you in your journey." -- page 161, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

These are the concepts in the above paragraph that catch my attention: "feel the need to start celebrating," and "celebration occurs when you feel like acknowledging yourself."

Photo from ladieslotto.com

I generally thought of celebrating as "the cookies are done, now we can enjoy." But throughout the Visioning(R) process, I have found all sorts of reasons to celebrate. 

1. I dared to name what I want in my life.
2. I committed my dream to collage.
3. Following the journal steps in each chapter gave me the feeling that I am moving towards my dream. 
4. Turning my dream over to my creative self allows me to reach my dream in ways I never imagined.

Finally, when a dream manifests I know I'm going to collage another. And another after that.
Yes, achieving a goal is fantastic, but celebrating the steps make the journey even sweeter.

Dorothy Segovia is a certified Visioning(R) Coach who dreams big. She is the author of My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents book with music CD. She can be reached at www.writeinside.com.

Visioning Step 6: Create the Collage

When we reach this step of the collage process, we have learned how to listen to our heart's message, clipped images, sorted them, composed our design and wrestled with the doubting Critic. However, just because we are out of the woods and actually gluing images and words onto our heart-sized paper, we are not necessarily immune to the fear-based rational mind.

In spite of having created many collages, I never fail to be delighted and surprised at my completed Vision board. The initial composition, images and words set on the page before step 5, the step where I dialogue with the Critic and stand up for my dream, always shifts in this stage—IF I ALLOW IT TO TRANSFORM.


Photo from www.inhabitat.com


Here's what one of Lucia's workshop participants experienced:

“For example Clare was completing a Vision collage and noticed a big empty space under a photo of a bespectacled photographer looking out from behind the lens of his camera. Clare had interpreted the photo as symbolizing her need to focus on her dream. Suddenly her eye glanced over to a discarded ad in her reject word pile. A caption and paragraph jumped out at her and spoke to a far deeper meaning in the picture. It read:

Visionary
Our eyes are capable of seeing many things in life;
what is common and familiar, or what is rare and extraordinary.

Clare took this to mean that she needed to look at everything in life with new awareness and attentiveness. A camera lens is a mundane and quite literal illustration for the idea of focus. On the other hand, the word “visionary” and its accompanying text allude to another, deeper level of perception.” page 117, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

By allowing Clare to stay in her heart space rather than head space, she was able to notice and retrieve her word caption from the discard pile.

As Lucia states in her book, Visioning is a form of active meditation. That is, both practices seek greater connection to our Creative Self. This Visioning principle applies to our daily life as well. Of course we all wake up with a plan of what we need to accomplish, but allowing our heart to gently guide us through our to-do list makes an ordinary day, extraordinary.

Dorothy Segovia is an author, songwriter and certified Visioning coach practicing in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. She can be reached via her website at www.writeinside.com.

Visioning Step 5: Explore and Find Order in Chaos

The hardest part about this step is the word explore. The reason is that if I am in chaos, I want out. Now. Even if I claim I'm willing for the chaos to shift into order, I still want it to happen yesterday.

Here's what Lucia has to say about this vital step in the creative process.

“In Visioning we are reshaping the images in our heads to catch up with the vision in our hearts. The heart leads, or more accurately, it allows...it wants us to experience the creative self: its ecstatic highs, unfathomable depths, and everything in between.” Visioning Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams. page 104.

Traveling with Pomegranates co-author Sue Monk Kidd describes her journey with chaos while collaging the outline for her fiction work, The Secret Life of Bee's.

“...It was pretty much an unconscious process. I told myself I was being creative, turning my play instinct loose to roam around and find what fascinated it. Inside, I was thinking: This is nuts.

I ended up culling the pictures to twenty images and randomly gluing them together. Among them: ...A whirling cloud of bees. A black Madonna wrapped in chains... A banner that reads Walls For Wailing."

Kidd goes on to describe her doubt over her idea to write a fiction book. Up until this point, she had only published non-fiction. Kidd also reflects on sharing the collage with her daughter and co-author, Ann Kidd Taylor.

“...When the idea came, it felt inspired, but knowing how capable I was of doubt and how cold my feet would get, I wrote a note to myself: 'Sue, this is a really good idea. Before you dismiss it, remember how you felt when it came to you.'

If it hadn't been for that note, the idea never would have survived. I still wasn't sure whether it was perfectly ridiculous or ridiculously perfect.

Ann does not laugh or roll her eyes. 'So where do they go?' (Ann is referencing the plot scenario that Kidd explained while sharing the collage outline.)

This is the part that makes me nervous, the part over which the novel has stalled.

'I have no idea,' I say.”

Hum. If exploration through collage was Sue Monk Kidd's process for ordering chaos into The Secret Life of Bee's, then by all means—let the chaos begin.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUE MONK KIDD BOOK AND WHY?

PLEASE POST YOUR ANSWER COMMENTS! 

Guest blogger Dorothy Segovia is an author, songwriter and certified Visioning coach living in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. She can be reached via her website at www.writeinside.com.

Visioning Step 4: Composing the Design

When I am facilitating a Visioning (R) workshop, this is the step where I end up taking someone's glue away.

After all the photos are collected, after the words are in place, now it's time to place the images together on the page. This is designing the composition—and because we are the designers, there is no wrong answer!!! But designing and gluing are two different steps. Here's what Lucia has to say,

In putting your Vision collage together, you'll let your creative conscience lead the way. You'll mix and match individual elements, fitting pictures with words to find meaning. Like Alice in Wonderland, things will mean what you want them to mean. The significance you assign to the pictures will be personal and specific to your heart's desire. When you have the right match, your heart will say, yes. When the pieces of your dream find each other, you will feel it in your body. - page 91, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

Ann Beazer explained it like this in the following excerpt from her letter to Lucia.
(Minor editing for continuity.)

“In the visioning session you led in June 2001 when I first met you-- I recall being so thrilled with my collage - something I had never done before - because it was a pleasure to look at.  That was a break through beyond my inhibitions of drawing or painting.   I realize that I still feel the same today having made dozens and dozens of collages since. Since the invitation to attend that event was from someone who leads a nutritional organization for women I had assumed our June 2001 evening would be about health; not so for me.   The focus phrase of my vision board was My New Future. That evening I immediately decided that I wanted to learn with you - so I took details of your CJEA accreditation and was with you in Cambria in March 2002.  The rest is history as they say!  I have never looked back. I love teaching Creative Journaling and liberating people from all the rules and releasing them from the boredom of writing all the time.”

The wonderful thing about this letter was that Ann actually put Lucia's logo in her collage (image at the top left) before she knew what the Creative Journal logo was.



Ann Beazer's collage: My New Future.


Click here to see Lucia's logo at the top right.

Step Four is about allowing your heart's desire lead the way to the design of your life.

Ann Beazer is a Certified Creative Journal facilitator and Visioning (R) coach.in the United Kingdom.Her core workshops are Creative Journal, Work with Passion, Visioning and Living Well. Each workshop is supported with complete sets of materials to use during the workshop and afterwards. Contact her at ann.beazer@me.com

Dorothy Segovia is the Visioning Coach blog manager and certified  Creative Journal facilitator and Visioning(R) Coach. She specializes in collaging your way through obstacles. Her how-to book with music CD, My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents, is available at www.writeinside.com.

Visioning 101: Q & A

Visioning® is more than just gluing images and words to a poster board and hanging it up in a room. It is about identifying, committing to and taking responsibility for your heart's desire. This month, Lucia answers questions from the Visioning® graduates about the process.


Why don't all of the images on my collage manifest?
That is not the goal. The goal is to manifest the heart's desire. Some things may lose relevance as time goes by or manifest in different forms.

We know from the work of C.G. Jung, Joseph Campbell, and countless others that the unconscious mind, feelings, intuitions, wishes, and dreams speak most truthfully in the language of images and symbols. This is the domain of the right brain, which specializes in visual-spatial perception, metaphoric thinking, emotional expression, and intuitive knowing. It is the realm of dreams and the arts. By first approaching our deepest feelings and wishes through right-brain visual imagery in pictures, we gain direct access to the unvarnished truth of our heart's true desires. Then we verbalize our insights and our creative process. (Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, page 41.)

Focus Phrase Affirmation Card: I live my own safe and beautiful place.

Why do we need to put a Creative Self first?
We need to remember that our creative self (or divine spark) communicates with the creator through our soul. We receive our heart's desire from this divine source and that same source brings about the manifestation of our heart's desire. We become a channel for divine grace.
The creative symbol is very important. It puts us in touch with the spiritual dimensions of Visioning®. It reminds us that what we do and what we have are simply the means for arriving at a state of being, not doing. What we really seek is an inner experience, not an external acquisition. The creative self symbol keeps us focused on our soul needs. For if we get off the rack, we're likely to be headed for disappointment. We may get what we want, but feel empty when we finally possess it. That's because we were going for the thing, and not the experience. People who do this end up asking the question, “Is that all there is? I achieved my goals, but I'm still unhappy. I'm depressed all the time (or tired or sick or my relationships don't work.) What happened?” Contemplating the creative self logo at the center of your collage reconnects you with your own heart and with the source of all abundance and fulfillment. (Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, page 55.)

Will a collage still work without a focus phrase?
It might, but how do you know you reached your goal? It's important to have the courage to ask for what we want, in no uncertain terms. Many people are not bold enough to ask for their heart's desire because they don't think they deserve to get it. Cultivating a sense of deserving is part of Visioning® and needs to be honored. I use the metaphor of going to a restaurant and ordering what you want. If you don't ask, the server cannot fill your order. The universe works in the same way. After ordering, we don't go into the kitchen and fuss about how the chef is preparing the food. We trust that we will receive what we ordered. That's also part of the Visioning® process. Trust that if you can dream it, it will happen.

Focus Phrase Affirmation Card: It is safe to be me.

I can't seem to get a focus phrase I'd just like to go through the magazines and see where they lead me. Is this okay?

This can work. Another thing to do if you don't have a focus phrase is ask to be shown what your soul wants for you at this time. Or the focus phrase can be, “What is my heart's true desire at this time?" Then let the selection of images and words answer the question. It takes the left brain and old, stale beliefs out of it and allows possibility thinking.

Having your dreams come true brings a new kind of freedom and fulfillment. It also brings new responsibilities. There will be surprises when you realize your true desires. From each risk you take, you become stronger and learn more about yourself. From every encounter with your creative conscience, you learn more about who you could be. If you dare to dream and act on your dreams, you have everything to gain: your true creative self. (Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, page 61.)

Lucia will be answering more questions again next month. If you have any to submit, please post in Comments . To purchase Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, visit: www.visioningcoach.org

Visioning a New Studio

This Visioning® story is from Ann Beazer of West Sussex, England.

Ann is a graduate of both the Creative Journal Expressive Arts certification training and the Visioning® coach training. Her dream was to have a studio at her home for conducting workshops and working with clients.

1) BEYOND MY WILDEST DREAMS

I must say that the manifestation of my dream has far outweighed my expectations and I am so delighted with the outcome! It's a beautiful space and everyone who has entered has commented on the sense of light and space and the peaceful atmosphere.

2) THE JOURNEY OF A DREAM

I am well aware that the fulfilment of any dream is an 'inside job' and I have had a very real opportunity to 'practice what I preach'.

The focus phase for my vision board in January 2009 was 'Workshops - 'less physical and practical effort' and was accompanied by the BELIEFS 'if only.... but I don't think that could ever happen, I can't see how, it's impossible.'

In August 2010

I made another vision board, this time the theme - 'A Purpose Built Studio'. What had changed? My BELIEFS had moved on to - 'Wow why not build one?

It's crazy but worth considering'.

At times I was very impatient (I envisaged an opening party picnic outdoors in June!) There were also times when I thought the way forward would be blocked (the planning authorities) and then frankly I wouldn't have to take responsibility for MY dream.

However the longer I waited for things to happen the more my BELIEFS were evolving. I found that I could not escape the hunch that this was the right thing to do though apparently crazy from a rational perspective. I really learned again that each vision has it's own rhythm and impulse.

3) YOUR DREAMS

Your dreams also have their own life and energy: they do need nurturing to stay alive. DON"T DESPAIR if your dream hasn't yet arrived, the timing is often not what we would ideally like. It's in waiting that our belief systems are aligned and clarity emerges. Do revisit your past dreams - I am sure that you will be encouraged and you may well be surprised to see what has evolved.

4) COMMUNITY OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Ultimately the new studio is not primarily a building but a centre where people can meet each other, move on, liberate themselves from the status quo (if that's what they need to do), and create a new future. I count it an enormous privilege to have met so many beautiful caring, thoughtful, generous people who have dared to tap into their intuitive wisdom and create their own future. We so need to encourage each other to be who we are.

5) FREE

My Intention for the studio is summed up by the name ELEUTHERA, which is Greek for FREE.

Here is my declared intention:

Eleutherea

A space where we are free to

Be ourselves

Slow down, muse, refresh

Appreciate our gifts and talents.

A space where we are free to

Live and think creatively

Share our enthusiasms

Play and just have fun.

A space where we are free to

Listen to the inner whisper

Acknowledge suffering as life's teacher and

Feed our souls with truth.

A space where we are free to

Welcome new hopes and visions

Make new beginnings

Discover choices often hidden from view.

A space where we are free to

Practice gratitude

Take time for wonder and joy

Encourage one another on life's journey.

GOETHE has the final word

Whatever you can do

Or dream you can do

Begin it....

Boldness has Genius, Magic and Power in it,

Begin it Now

www.annbeazer.com

Retirement and Visioning®

by Chris Shirtcliff , Certified Creative Journal Expressive Arts Consultant & Certified Visioning® Coach

Phone (413) 323-6653, Belcherton, MA
email: cfssmain@charter.net

website: www.thecreativedoorway.com.

I made this collage while contemplating stepping down from my executive hospital administrator role. Many life changes would be necessary to make this possible. There were three components. The bottom of the collage for each section had current images that evolved to the top images of where I wanted to be.

First of all I needed to launch my adult daughter who was just graduating from art college. The most fascinating part to me was the picture of a young woman holding her hands up triumphantly at the water’s edge. I thought this had to do with the fact that she lived a few blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, it materialized as a triumphant moment on the Pacific shore as she celebrated having ridden her bike cross country. She was part of a support team for a man in an electric wheelchair on a ventilator rolling across America to raise money and awareness while seeking the Guinness World record for this feat. It took them four months. She is now working in her field, taking a lot more responsibility and nearly financially independent.

The second component was my health. I do eat a more balanced diet, find time for play to de-stress, and don’t get sick as often. I had eye surgery to improve my vision. Weight loss and being more active still need attention. Curiously, my husband has really taken charge of his own health, hitting the gym almost everyday. His health, of course, increases our ability to be active. Friends who see me lately say that I look ten years younger. So I have probably made more progress than I realize in this arena.

The third component was all about actually changing jobs. I began exploring options shortly after completing the collage. A year later I had worked out an arrangement with my employer of 33 years. I stepped down as the hospital president, had a three month paid leave, and then returned to work part-time. I work three days a week as a Professional and Organizational Development consultant focusing on educational collaboration for the same health system. I am also formalizing my Creative Journal Expressive Arts and Visioning® Coach consulting business and offer monthly workshops. We are still adjusting to the lower salary, but refinanced our home for some added financial security. During my leave I took a weekend voice workshop and have recently begun Spanish lessons.

I found it amusing that the phrase “Run Away Right Away” underwent some change in transport. Letters fell off making it “Run Away Right”. I thought this represented my very well planned transition. When the plan was in motion, another word fell off. Then it said “Run Away”. About that time, I did!

Visioning® the New Year

Welcome to the new year with Visioning®.

My name is Lucia Capacchione, originator of the Visioning® Method for turning dreams into reality. The method appears in my book Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams (Tarcher/Putnam, 2000).

Using Visioning® I have created the life, the house, the relationships and the career of MY dreams. You can do it, too! As Walt Disney said: "If you can dream it, you can do it."

In my first career as a graphic artist and designer, I worked for world-famous chair designer , Charles Eames, and later for Mattel and Hallmark. As a therapist and corporate consultant, I was retained for 10 years by Walt Disney Imagineering (theme park designers) to train managers and creative folks to maximize their potential. At Disney, I got to stand back analyze the design process. After observing in depth how "thoughts become things", I applied the design process to life in my practice as a life/career coach and art therapist.

You can find the "designer within" and learn the process that all designers use. It's simple, fun and powerful. It's hands-on and brings out your creativity. There are lots of methods for manifesting out there. None of them are based on solid design principles. Remember this: Designers never create by sitting around visualizing or repeating affirmations. Never! As soon as they get an idea, they start working with their hands. Combining collage with journaling, Visioning® applies the ten steps used by successful designers, architects, artists and inventors. Visioning® applies the design process to life. It works for all areas of life: career, relationships, home, health, hobbies, travel, you name it.

More importantly, with Visioning® you can learn to get out of your own way. That is another thing that makes this unique and sets it apart from other methods of manifestation. Imagining what you want is not enough. We all have an Inner Critic who rains on our parade. As soon as we want to venture out into new territory, push the envelope and reach for the sky, it stops us. Visioning® provides proven "block busters" (journal exercises) for confronting your own "inner saboteur" who prevents you from realizing the life of your dreams. These "block busters" came from my 35 years plus of work as a therapist. Believe me, they work! If they didn't I never would have been able to author 13 books (2 of them bestsellers), find the house of my dreams, travel all over the world, create an international training program with graduates from all over the globe. I could go on and on.

Using Visioning®, hundreds of people have created happy marriages, loving families, better health, weight loss, prosperity, dream houses, fulfilling careers, exciting travel and more. They have attended my workshops, used my book, and done private coaching with me or a certified Visioning® Coach. Many of these people tell their story in my book, Visioning.

In this blog, I'll share these highly effective tools for manifesting and finding your true heart's desire. I'll share my experiences as well as the stories of people who enjoyed huge success with this method. You are invited to post a question or comment. Join me in the Visioning® adventure.

Create the life of your dreams!

Lucia

For more about Visioning® go to www.VisioningCoach.org

Be sure to visit www.LuciaC.com. There you will find general information about my 13 books, a calendar of my workshops and training, CD's and other products for sale, as well as essays, picture gallery and more.

At www.LuciaC.com purchase the book, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, and a set of 2 CDs, Visioning, by Jessie Allen Cooper (musical accompaniment for the Visioning® process).