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 3: Focus on the Vision

So. You're sitting amidst piles of images and words. You've gathered them because your heart has sent you on a quest. You have made a wish, you have a focus phrase, now it's time to focus on the vision.

"It is said that Michelangelo described sculpting as 'getting rid of everything that wasn't the sculpture.' That's what you are about to do. Step 3 emphasizes the next phase in the creative process: discrimination, elimination, editing, refinement, exclusion." -- page 84, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

Now it's time to sift and sort. This step is often overwhelming because I want to take everything with me. So I break down the process further with three piles:  Yes. No. Maybe.

I need to do this because three other words are blocking the way to my collage creation:
Discrimination. Elimination. Exclusion.

These are harsh words. I believe that more of anything is better, especially creative ideas.

This third way of  "yes, no, maybe" creates breath and space. It makes way for fun so I can enjoy the  process. After all, Visioning(R) is fun!!!! Remember???

Gratefully Step 3 applies to the collage after it is created as well:

 

I live in a safe and sacred home in Ventura.

I can apply the discrimination. elimination. exclusion word revelations to my current vision of moving to Ventura. While my collage has manifested in amazing ways, I'm still....not....quite.....there: renting a room and working.
PHOOEY!!!!

But phooey creates the opening for the Saboteur to step in and give up on the journey when I may have only 500 yards to drive.

Looking at my collage, I focus on the phrase "Today is the day I write my own story." Yes. No. Maybe.

Yes, I still want to move to Ventura.
No, I'm not willing to give up on my dream.
Maybe if I send out an email to everyone asking specifically for what I want--my own room in Ventura, even temporarily--so I can practice living my Ventura life.

Bingo! I am happy to report I am staying for several days in a fabulous guest room in Ventura on a beautiful sunny ranch with two dogs, three cats and four amazing new friends.

"Your heart may show you things your minds is not ready to grasp. Keep your eyes open for new possibilities. If you knew everything there is to know about yourself, you wouldn't be weaving a new dream or following your heart's desire. Your creative self is leading you into new territory. Will you travel there?" --page 85, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

Visioning(R) works.

What will you do today to focus on your dream????

Write your answers in the Comments section!!!

Guest blogger Dorothy Segovia is a certified Vision Coach who knows how to  focus on a dream. She is the author of My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents, a book about using Creative Journaling and original songs to move through obstacles. www.writeinside.com.

Visioning Step 1: Setting Your Intention

It is the 3rd week of January. Many of us are living with the resolutions that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the year. If they are working for you—congrats! You're headed in the right direction. However, if you are struggling, maybe it is time to turn that resolution into an intention.


Step 1- Making a wish or setting the intention.

There is a big difference between resolution and intention. Resolutions often come from our head—what we should be doing: lose weight, finish that project, start exercising. These are all worthy goals, but joy comes from flowing with the heart's intention. Suze Orman once said that she used to exercise regularly because she enjoyed it. But as soon as she made a New Year's resolution about exercising, she stopped. Esther Hicks, author of the Abraham law of attraction books, states that rather than setting a goal— which only locks in the feeling of lack—focusing on what we want and the feeling of having it, allows the dream to manifest. Discovering and allowing our dream is Visioning®

“...once you have heard your creative conscience, you must take action. How wonderful! And how terrifying. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'Be careful what you set your heart on, for it will surely be yours.' 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 abut who you could be. If you dare to dream and act on your dreams, you have everything to gain: your true creative self.”
--pages 59-61, Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams.

Now that you know the difference between resolutions and intentions, ask yourself these questions from the pages referenced above:

1.Am I ready to look into my heart?

2.Am I ready to partner with my creative self?

3.Am I ready to listen to my creative conscience?

4.Am I ready to have my deepest dreams come true?

***

Your COMMENTS matter... please tell us about what part of your day you most enjoy and why.

Lucia's Art Studio: Her dream come true.

Guest blogger Dorothy Segovia is a certified Visioning coach. Her latest book “My Body, My Car: How to Coach Yourself Through Life's little Accidents,” is a blend of memoir, self-help and original music. Learn more by visiting www.writeinside.com.

Native American Healing with Visioning(R)

This months post is a letter from Vicki L. Muir to Lucia, thanking her for the healing she experienced in a Voice Dialogue session with Lucia.

Vicki is a certified Visioning(R) Coach and Creative Journal Expressive Arts facilitator working in Edmond, Oklahoma. 

Vicki L. Muir

Business Inner Circle

Email: Innercircle@Cox.net

Edmond, OK

Hi Lucia,


I wanted to thank you for the voice dialogue work we did prior to my surgery. I believe we summoned up some powerful energies that have continued to assist me in my healing journey. The images that especially speak to me are the grandmothers and the buffalo. I am still receiving energy from them. I wanted to share the experience with the CJEA group.

Prior to my surgery July 24th for a biopsy of the left lung with possible diagnosis of lung cancer or metastatic cancer, I did a collage. The collage was filled with Native American images. The images were of grandmothers singing, dancing and praying; the buffalo, a doe with her fawn; a warrior, and a central figure with spirals, animals and healing hands in a mandala. You facilitated a voice dialogue with the images, which spoke of ancient wisdom, Native practices, prayer and ceremony.

The buffalo spoke to me of power and healing as well as endurance. There were messages of connectedness, nature, and wholeness being in rhythm with the natural and universal energies. One statement said ,"journey of profound healing." This truly speaks to my experience. I believe that I summoned these energies to aid me in my journey. I was overwhelmed when the surgeon told me there was no cancer. My recovery has been remarkable with no complications. I am still feeling the energies of the images with further journaling to move me forward. Thank you again Lucia for this moving experience. I believe that the images are prophetic and hold energies of their own that come to life as we work with them.

Blessings, Vicki

PS: I would like to reiterate that this experience brought forth the importance of connection to others, spirit and the universal energies, which are always available to us. This places the emphasis on my inner connection and accessing my own power. My ancestral communication was significant because my Great Grandmother was a Native American and known as a healer.

Note: Voice Dialogue is facilitated way to interact with the collage images with the guidance of a trained coach or therapist. Using the Creative Journal method outlined in Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams is another way to allow the images to speak, for those who work with their collages on their own.

If anyone else has used Visioning(R) as part of your healing process, please share your story in our Comments section!

Dream Visioning®

Dream Visioning


By guest blogger Claire Perkins, 2005 CJEA graduate, dream guide and award-winning author of The Deep Water Leaf Society: Harnessing the Transformative Power of Grief.
www.ClairePerkins.com

Visioning® is great for manifesting your waking-life dreams. But did you know it works equally well for exploring and discovering the meaning of your nighttime dreams, too? Every night your dreams are bringing you guidance and wisdom, but discovering the meaning can sometimes be challenging. Collage is a perfect way to bring your night visions to life so that you can discover the wisdom they contain and apply it to transform your waking life.

Here are 10 easy steps to Dream Visioning

1.Get your dream journal and gather your collage materials together (paper, magazines, scissors, glue) in a quiet place where you can work undisturbed for 30 minutes to an hour or more.

2.If you have a written record of your dream (I strongly encourage keeping a dream journal and writing your dreams down regularly), read it to yourself. If you didn’t write it down, play the dream over in your mind—or, better yet, take the time to write it down now.

3.Close your eyes and place yourself back into the dream, as if you were reliving it. Pay attention to the main characters, the setting, and any emotions you are feeling within the dream.

4.Give the dream a title. Write it down. This is your focus phrase and will help to guide you as you create your Dream Vision. Invite your Dream Self to help you explore your dream more deeply.

5.As you begin to gather images and phrases from your magazines, stay in a meditative state. Don’t overthink it and don’t try to be too literal. Think of this as a continuation of the dream state (which is not logical, literal or linear) and allow the dream to unfold through the images you are drawn to. You may not find the “perfect” image to represent every aspect of your dream, and that’s okay. You can always enhance your collage by drawing in anything that feels missing. You may also find images that seem to have nothing to do with your dream yet “want” to be a part of your collage, and that’s okay, too. Remember to select at least one image to represent you—you as you were within the dream, or you receiving the wisdom of the dream, or both.

6.Arrange your images and phrases on your paper. Keep what resonates with the dream and release what doesn’t. Do certain images and phrases belong together? Do the words you’ve gathered create a message, story or poem? Is there anything missing that you want to add?

7.When you are pleased with the arrangement, glue it down.

8.Sit with the finished collage for a few minutes and then journal (dominant hand) about what you see. How does the collage make you feel? Does it remind you of any current situation in your waking life? Does it tell a story?

9.Which image(s) do you find most intriguing or want to know more about? Dialogue with the image(s), asking them questions with your dominant hand, and allowing the image(s) to answer through your non-dominant hand. Ask these key questions: Who are you? How do you feel? Why do you feel that way? What are you doing in my dream? What gift or challenge do you bring me? What can I do for you? Feel free to follow your own curiosity and ask any other questions you choose.

10.Journal again with your dominant hand. What is the message of this dream? What situation in your life does it seem to be speaking to? Were there any big “Ahas!” from the dialogue(s)? List three actions you will take to honor this dream – and then go out and DO them! It’s one thing to decipher what your dream is telling you, but the real power for change comes from acting on what you learned.

Example Dream Visions

 

The Big Wave    

  I am watching a huge wave break. The water comes all the way up into city streets. In a room, a small boy has peed himself. I think he must have seen or heard the wave crash and been frightened. He is holding a small fish in a baggie of water. There's a tiny eyeball floating in the water, too. I believe it is food for the fish.
~~    

Hungry Lions    

  I am exploring ancient grounds – an abandoned estate of some kind. It is not in ruins, but is overgrown and neglected as well as deserted. I discover there are feeding stations in some locations. There are monkeys and there are lions. I go to one feeding station near the front of the house (it looks a bit like a metal water pump). I can read a label on it that indicates it’s for the lions. I give it a pump, out of curiosity, and a few old cheese puffs come out. The monkeys stay back and a lion comes and sniffs at the cheese puffs. I feel sad for the lions—they can’t eat food like this. It reminds me of a zoo where people come to gawk and make caged pets of these glorious animals. I’m a bit frightened to be so close to the lions, but feel it is up to me to feed them.

~~    

Recurring Nightmare: I’ve Missed the Whole Semester!

It’s the last day of the semester and time for final exams or that major term paper is due. Except I realize that I haven’t been to class all semester long! It’s too late to withdraw and a failing grade, which I’m certain to get, will ruin my GPA and prevent me from graduating. I feel totally panicked and frantic.

~~

You can visit Claire’s digital dream journal at http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/collection?id=389795

for additional examples of Dream Visioning.

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 Choices

Dorothy Segovia is a certified Visioning® Coach, writer and singer/songwriter/performer.

www.writeinside.com

This collage was created during the final week of my Visioning® Coach certification in 2008. The theme was how was my vision work going to manifest in the world. As I was working on the collage, I distinctly had an intuition to start a magazine. A magazine??? The idea took hold for less than a minute when I suddenly got a headache. Just then Lucia, who was facilitating our collage workshop, said, “Remember, if you get headaches, stomaches, while working on your collage that means your critic is afoot.”

It's been four years and a book I'd been writing evolved first into a magazine, but then expanded into a series. The first book in the series about a car accident entitled “My Body, My Car,” is being finalized. Each book combines my experience with the Creative Journal and Visioning® processes with a music CD.

My favorite aspect of collage work is seeing the manifestation – even if it is many years later. I was pet-sitting for friends last month when the image in the bottom-left corner came true. My friends have a gorgeous red-haired, teenage daughter. The room I was sleeping in had a a round holder with scissors standing up in each of the many sections. The lake in the background represents Atascadero Lake, which was the town I stayed before and after the house-sit. And one of the animals in the house was a dog similar to the one in the photo.Having these images manifest was hugely comforting. The manifestation showed me that I was still on track. It told me that I can't possibly miss my calling. Even if I am in wandering mode, yet again, I can wander and feel safe.

I need to tell you that the original collage frightened me. It was a 2-sided, pages-added-on, mass of choices. Some images of the men scared me at the time, yet that story unfolded in the form of a musical I wrote, which is the next project in the cue. Collaging has always taken on a life of it's own. I generally collage a feeling of what I want—expansiveness, safety, knowing I am blessed—rather than tangible goals. I think it may have to do with fear of making decisions. Maybe I'm afraid of asking for what I want.
Even if that is the case, Visioning works. I have created affirmation postcards, 81/2 by 11 collages and sparse, large-scale vision boards. I cannot imagine life without my vision boards. I'm excited to find out where my next collage manifestation finds me.