Have a Vision: Vision Boards and Vision Boxes

Vision Boards and Vision Boxes are becoming very popular! They are similar to Wish Lists, yet significantly deeper. Vision Boards can encompass not only our material desires, but also our deepest and innermost wishes and dreams such as "more peace" or "a magical existence". With The Law of Attraction and "The Secret" so popular, we're learning that our thoughts and dreams really can come true! We just have to really want them.

My daughters and I have vision boards. We made ours out of cut peg board. We glued cork on different areas of the boards (different for each of us), strung wire on the back, and stained little wooden boxes that we later glued on the boards. We use the cork area for the material things and/or short term events we want (ours are evolving with us). The other area we've mod-podged things that make us feel good -- pictures of things, words, etc. that reflect who we are and who we want to be (I've put lots of calm, zen images on my board; my oldest daughter has lots of magical images; my youngest daughter has gemstones and ballet photos). Basically, we put things on our boards that we want to manifest into our lives. My youngest daughter cleverly hooked a cup onto her board that she fills with little homemade clay items.

Some people choose to make Vision Binders or Boxes where they put photos and magazine words/pictures/items into. We prefer our Boards that hang on the wall, so we can look at them throughout the day. The boards definitely lack the portability of a binder though. I've seen a variety of Vision Boards made out of cardboard, foam board, and other materials. The great thing about these is that there is no set way of making them. It is entirely up to you! Christine Kane wrote a really great "How to Make a Vision Board" blog entry for those interested. Some people even make computer wallpaper Vision Boards for their screen's background. This is a very neat concept!

We enjoy our Vision Boards so much that we held a "Vision Board Day" with our Girl Scout Troop (I'm a Girl Scout Leader for both of my daughters' troops). I've been amazed at the wonderful and creative ideas the girls have had! This also gave us a chance to share our collection of catalogs and magazines. Some of the girls put only words all over their boards, others chose only pictures. One thing is for certain: our boards have to evolve since we keep getting everything we hope and dream for! It is amazing how these things keep appearing in our lives.

With the Holiday Season just around the corner, I'm excited to see the items that are popping up on my daughters' Vision Boards. I know what they'll love to receive and I don't have to ask them.

Don't forget to periodically take photos of your Vision Boards. It is fun to look back over time and see how your dreams have come true!

Catalogs I LOVE

I'm not a fan of receiving too many catalogs and other mail that I don't want. However, I am a huge fan of receiving catalogs in the mail that I'm going to keep around a while and reference. Be sure to check out online catalogs before you have a paper one sent to you. If you prefer to look and purchase online only, be sure to drop them an e-mail saying you don't want catalogs sent to you.

Here are catalogs that I love. They inspire me and my children. We keep them for weeks, or months, or years. We cut them up and make collages with them (then ATCs out of those), we dream about the photos, they broaden our worlds. They often intrigue us and help us have a more Zen-like life, all at the same time. And, sometimes, of course, we actually buy things out of them. :) We keep our wished for items on our vision boards for all the world to see and miraculously, we usually have our wishes come true.

Kid Stuff:
Chinaberry (books, toys, audio books)
Oriental Trading Company (they have several different catalogs)
MindWare (fun "thinking" toys)
Lego Magazine and Catalog
HearthSong (miscellaneous fun toys, lots of wood items)
Spilsbury (puzzles, etc.)
C.W.D. Kids (clothing for little kids)
Magic Cabin (similar to Hearthsong, but more Waldorf -- beautiful illustrations!)
Educational Innovations (science things, their catalog is MUCH better than their online store)
Steve Spangler Science (science fun)
Hammacher Schlemmer (fun dream toys)
Discover Channel Store (great toy and DVD source)

Household Stuff:
IKEA (everything you need to furnish an entire house)
Solutions Catalog (all kinds of interesting things)

Zen Stuff that has all kinds of things:
Isabella Catalog (the "grown-up" Chinaberry Catalog)
Signals
The Wireless Catalog
Gaiam (they have several different catalogs)
Lush (nice massage bars and bath bombs)
Dharma Trading (dyes and blanks for dyeing things -- I always keep a catalog on-hand)
Acacia (some of the neatest things I've seen for a while)

For Travel and outdoor:
Sahalie (clothing, traveling, and outdoor supplies)
TravelSmith (clothing and supplies for traveling)
Magellans

Online only:
Geeks.com (discounted fun electronics)
ThinkGeek.com (fun geeky things)
amazon.com (just about everything these days)
Kodak Gallery
Vegan Essentials
Rick Steves (excellent source for traveling supplies, best source for information about traveling in Europe)

Enjoy!

Pretend You're on Vacation

As an Unschooling family, one of the greatest pleasures we get is from pretending we are tourists in our own area. A few times a month, we pack a lunch or supper (and the camera) and get in our pretend rental car (otherwise known as our car) and head off on a new and exciting adventure for a few hours.

Eight years ago, right before a cross-country move, we discovered that there were at least a dozen places in our area that we'd always wanted to go and see, but had never found the time to go to. With the looming moving date, we were forced to go and see those places right away or never see them (to this day I'm disappointed that I never went on the gummy bear factory tour). While we did go see most of those local tourist attractions, we vowed to never miss out on happenings and places in our new locale.

Mostly, we've held to this. However, over the past eight year period we: had another baby, moved five times, and spent our time learning a gob of stuff. Basically, life started getting in the way again. Our early outings aren't remembered by either of our children, so we've decided to start being guests in our own area again. After a summer vacation, we grabbed local magazines and brochures from the airport. We've been scouring them, slowly doing all the things we haven't done before and all the things we've been wanting to do again.

Have you been bored with your area lately? Check out businesses that give tours (I've been very surprised at how many places that normally don't give tours are more than willing to let interested people have a private tour). Check the national forests in your area. Still can't find anything interesting? Pop into a local hotel and pick up all the brochures (hand them out to your friends after you are done with them). Broaden your idea of "local" to anything within a day's drive there and back. Day trips are wonderful for making you feel like you really did get away from the daily grind. Put a list of all the places you want to go on your refrigerator or vision board. Don't feel like you have to do them all in one day; try one a month.

Just don't forget to take your camera!

What magazines do you and your family read?

We currently receive more than the following, but I'm only planning on resubscribing to these:

• New Moon -- Fun magazine for girls ages 8-15 (or so) and their families.
  
• Wired -- Interesting for the whole family, technically oriented. Through amazon.com.
• VegNews -- This magazine puts out a monthly online newsletter, too. Both have a lot of useful vegetarian and vegan information. It can also be purchased through amazon.com.
• body + soul -- I enjoy reading this magazine while taking a bath with Lush bathbombs. It is very Zen and I am always inspired to create something exciting after this experience.
  
• Live Free, Learn Free Magazine -- If you want to know more about Unschooling, but don't spend much time online, this is the magazine for you!
• Highlights -- This well known classic is amazingly a huge hit with my children and has been for several years. Through amazon.com.
• Connections -- This is an ezine on Unschooling and Mindful Parenting (two of my favorite topics.
• National Geographic Kids -- These are short, but colorful and fun. I don't enjoy all the advertising, but the content is interesting. Through amazon.com.
• PCRM's magazine -- Make a tax deductible contribution and you'll receive this amazing magazine. It is full of the latest and greatest research on curing diseases through diet.
  

Here are a few that I have enjoyed over the years, but have outgrown since my children are older now and we are seasoned Unschoolers:

• Mothering -- Wonderful information on pregnancy, birthing, vaccines, circumcision, etc.
• Life Learning Magazine -- Through amazon.com.
• The Compleat Mother