Prompt #68 - Short Term Vision

Why it's good to be a little shortsighted

Hi, I‘m Lorena and welcome to The Stress Less Pencil. Together, we create art to make us feel good, not to make it look good. All weekly prompts are designed for total beginners and experienced artists alike, so come join us.

Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash

Vision boards are a staple of any self-help practice. They help us reflect on what we want our future to look like and express it through images, which for many of us allows us to communicate in ways we can't do with words. Of course, it's important to visualise what we want our lives to look like in 5, 10 or 20 years. We can then keep the vision in our minds as a north star, to guide us through the endless amount of micro-decisions towards our desired destination.

Just as important as keeping your eyes on the long-term price, is giving yourself more immediate goals to work on. What do your 10 year plans mean for the next year, next month, or even next week ? Or what do you want your next week to look like, even if you haven't thought about where you want to be in 2034?

Let's find out.

The Activity: Your One-Week Vision Board

Step 1 - Dream

Take a moment to reflect. Close your eyes and try to envision your week. What do you want to achieve? How do you want to spend your time? What's the mood? What do you want it to feel like?

Step 2 - Search pictures

Using Google, a free stock image site like Unsplash, or a picture generator like DallE, collect images that reflect your vision. Find people doing the activities you want to do, and pictures that represent the feeling and the mood of your ideal week.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Step 3 - Collage

Put your images together in a collage, using a Word or Google document, or Canva. You can also choose to add words at this step. Move images (and text) around until you feel that everything is just right. This step is a bit like rearranging your room until everything feels cozy and just right.

Once you're happy with your vision board, print it out or save it to a place where you'll see it as much as possible. Use it as your daily dose of inspiration, to live your week just like you envisioned it.

My Example

It's properly dark and cosy here in Sweden now. I want to spend my week doing great things at work, being out in nature while there's light outside, and then getting comfy with my daughter and a good book, crocheting, drawing, and making Stress Less Art together with people in my workshop this week. And candles. Lots of candles.

I hope you have exactly the week that you envisioned.

Love, Lorena