I've proven over and over to myself that there is a larger consciousness within me that see's the future. That is guiding me to choose wonderful expressions and experiences, that shows me the way. I've proven it in my written morning pages (thanks to Dorothea Brand - from whom Julia Cameron got the idea and made it massively popular through the Artist's Way). I've proven it over and over in the collages I've done daily when I've tired of writing morning pages. I have journals filled with page after page of pictures I simply was attracted to in magazines. I never focus on what it will cost - never - it is NOT about the money, it is ALWAYS about the experience. The universe twirls at my fingertips to provide the experience I demand - either consciously or unconsciously.  

Example: this page is from a 2.10.99 journal page (I date everything) during a transition time, when I was employed in a very low paying job just to put food on my table while I figured out what I really wanted to do. The airport at the top of this collage is Hong Kong (where I arrived on business 6.24.2004, my company paying my expenses). The bird is a cockatiel (I'd never had a bird as a pet - cats are my thing). I was given Jewel in fall of 2007 (see below), when my granddaughter moved to NM and couldn't take her.  I have yet to get to Tokyo.        

HOW TO MAKE A TREASURE MAP/VISION BOARD:

1st:  COLLECT WHAT YOU NEED:  Pictures: a bunch of attractive magazines with lots of pictures. I tend to favor Smithsonian, National Geographic, and all sorts travel magazines for a more global reach. Catalogs are cool. I save old calendars - they have great photos and many are sent free each year to people who donate or subscribe.  Glue sticks: or adhesive of some sort - I prefer removable so I can move them around until I'm happy with them. Card Stock: 8 1/2 x 11 for a Focus Board (see below) or for larger boards - 11x14 is a reasonable size, then you can always go very very large like Martha Beck showed on Oprah. You can find poster board in drug stores, art stores, or cut from boxes...recycle materials. You can read below in my first post on this page - the smaller, the more focused, the faster results I've had. Scissors: tiny clippers for perfectionists, or skip scissors and rip the edges for an artsy edgy effect.                  

2nd: BOOK 2 HOURS FOR YOURSELF:  Then BREATHE. RELAX. Find a WHOLE BRAIN state - one technique is laying flat on the floor while you do this; or meditate a few minutes; or sit cross meridian like Rodin's the THINKER (see photo taken at the Rodin Museum in Paris in February 2007).  I've recently discovered I've cut and pasted numerous Eiffel Towers over the years completely from a random brain space, and voila...business trips taking me to places I had never consciously dreamed. Twice. 

I recommend crossing wrists and ankles for 2-3 minutes while you breathe. I also recommend finding some friends to do this with and describing what you want to envision, pictures you need and everyone rips out and passes around what they think others may want. Group energy dramatically magnifies your focus.

3rd:  RIP and STACK for 15-20 minutes. Set a timer or you will spend hours doing this. Rip out pictures/words of what you want for your future and what attracts you: color, shape, texture, words, etc. No censor. Just rip it. 

4th:  CUT & PASTE into a pleasing ensemble. Place somewhere you see it every day. Refrigerator doors, bathroom mirrors, thermostats, on an altar. 

5th:  LET GO, and let the magic unfold. It might take years, it might show up next week or tomorrow. Understand we are far more powerful than we give ourselves credit for. We create. With every thought, every visualization. We create. It's why we're here. Go for the gold.

Start with: I want ________ (fill in the blank) but  ________ (fill in the blank with the conflicting emotion or thought). Any time there is a but in the middle of a sentence, it negates the first idea in the sentence. That's the clue.

Then I suggested she put a big colored balloon up in the left hand corner of the board and put everything that conflicts with her "real heart's desires" in the balloon (the cats - she's allergic), and then take the balloon and everything in it and have a letting go ceremony — bury it or burn it. Just thinking "balloons or bubbles" to let go of something works as well. LET IT GO. Stop thinking about it. If it comes up again, you have 17 seconds to FOCUS on the scene you do want. ALLOW the Universe to deliver - there is always a perfect solution to our "allergies". 

Attention = Information

Intention = Energy

I'm working on simplifying my life. Although every time I clean a closet, or reduce the number of books on my shelves - they just seem to slurp themselves up to full again. I know, the Universe hates a vacuum. I'm working on figuring this one out. Tidy. Simple. Uncluttered. So as you see, my map is at Kathleen's feet. When I got home I refined it. Here is my new focus. A relationship in which I feel Cherished v. 1. to feel or show great love or care for somebody. Trenda chose this statement for me out of entire little booklet of LOVE stickers. Tears rushed to my eyes - an instant acknowledgment that it hit the core of me. Goosebumps and tears - these instant physical responses are my guide to the truth.

Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect, the handbook said to me once, Then be sure of one thing: the IS has imagined it quite a bit better than you have.

—from Illusions, The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

Aha, I thought. This is a cool trick. Tricks are for kids and I'm still a kid at heart. So I did a little map when I needed to sell my house. I put the buyer in the picture, myself as seller, a sold sign, and the date I wanted it sold by. I sold my house (not exactly by the date, but soon enough!). This was also what I'd call my first collage.

I mocked up a cover for a book I was researching (I was single and wanting to meet new people. I ended up publishing a monthly singles magazine, hosting great "meet the singles who write the ads" parties, and attracted everything and everyone I needed to do it. Of course this was before the internet exploded with the same sort of idea. All these were just 4x6p hotograph sized - but were clearly focused.

I have brought my two favorite cars to me this way - a picture of me leaning on my friend Paulette's black Mercedes went on my fridge and the Mercedes that came to me had my name on the license plate - II LEE. The Sebring convertible was an even tinier image cut out of a magazine after I realized I liked seeing my boyfriend's red convertible sitting in front of my house. I put the tiny tiny picture of the Sebring (body by Mazzerati) on my thermostat - so whenever it was hot out, I'd turn off the heat and turn on the air - and imagine myself driving this car - imagining those top down days.  I'll go dig up old photos and upload them. It's so much fun to imagine cool things, and then to be just soooo grateful when they just seem to show up.

For the past 6 months, I've been focusing on going within to touch into Source, and meditating more. I've been focused on opening my heart - the old Mervyn's ad - OPEN>OPEN>OPEN (see collage header on this page).

And balance. As I chose these to focus on, I decided to make 8/1x11 full page, singularly focused collages. I found a really inexpensive collage program called Picture Play ($14.95 for single computer license) that you can find at Kagi.com.  

This weekend, my friend Kathleen and I hosted a "Treasure Map Party & Luncheon" and I worked on a new map - a Vision Board for relationship. Full of great pictures of what I'd love him to look like, what we'd do together... you know, the walking on the beach at sunset kind of pictures, playful pictures. Yet when I got home, it felt busy and not as focused as I've had them in the past. It's my collage at Kathleen's feet. So I've refined it and focused it. To be continued.