My New Vision Board

As part of the on-going One Little Word project I’ve been undertaking this year, we were supposed to create a “vision board” during the month of March.  At first, I got really excited.  I was just given an excuse to buy a stack of magazines.  And I did just that –  I think I probably bought about 20 magazines that day and got straight to work on looking through them, searching for pictures, words, phrases that inspired Joy in me.

While I thoroughly enjoyed reading some of my old favourite publications, and seeing what some new, more novel magazines contained, nothing really got me excited.

So I left the project alone for a while, thinking I’d tackle it when we got back from our vacation.

As March drew to a close, and being one to never let a deadline pass without fishing the expected task, I sat down once again to look for things that sparked joy.  And still . . . nothing.

So instead, I turned my attention to editing all the photos from our vacation.  And then it came to me.

I printed a photo of one of my favourite memories from our trip, added some signature pink sparkly letters to remind me of my “one little word” and put it all in a big frame that can be hung in my office.

This photo means infinitely more to me than any collage of cut up words and images ever could.  This photo represents true joy . . . and reminds me that true joy is always within reach, within the confines of an ordinary day.  Everything I love most is present in this photo . . . a gorgeous sunrise reminding me that the sun does always rise, that there is glory in the promise of a new day, and that there is always true beauty to be found in nature.  Both kids, 2 of my greatest joys are there too, reminding me of the fun we have in the early hours of the morning (as much as I often wish for just one sleep in, I know that one day they will sleep in and these quiet mornings of ours will come to an end) and just how much love I have in my heart.  While the Husband, the 3rd of my greatest joys, isn’t pictured, he’s there in spirit . . . in fact, it’s his very absence in this photo that reminds me of how much we love each other and what a great team we are (I woke up most mornings on this trip with the kids while he had a bit of a sleep in . . . allowing me to have a bit of a nap in the afternoon while he took care of the kids).

I know, I broke the rules, didn’t follow the instructions, and maybe I’ll regret the choice I made at the end of this One Little Word project.  But for now, I love this project so much, and I know I will love it for years to come, long after I’m done with this year’s One Little Word, that I think this was once choice that was well worth making.