Arts & Healing Arts for Military Veterans By Amber Robinson
Taking the vision board to the next level for 2021 Welcome to 2021! As a nation I know we are all communally excited to wave goodbye to the year 2020. As we move forward into this brand new year, I know there is a lot on everyone’s mind and getting organized and inspired to make things happen is part of it. There are plenty of ways to do this. Make lists, write out inspiring quotes on the fridge or make a vision board.
But, 2021 is a BIG year. It’s our COMEBACK year as a nation so we need BIG visions. Therefore, I say do what I do and take the vision board a step further and create a vision WALL. I created my first vision wall at the end of 2018 going into 2019. I was going through a big breakup and a nervous breakdown as I tried to make headway into new mindsets past those of my trauma. So I grabbed a roll of newsprint from my art supplies and I rolled large swaths of paper out onto an empty bedroom wall and taped it up. I dragged out pastels and markers and colored pencils and I scrawled “Breathe, Moon Child” in 2 foot letters in the middle of the paper. That would be my main message for the year. That theme reminded me to become mindful, to stop and breathe and become more still. Around that “theme” I drew small symbols and pictures, quotes, reminders. I worked on the wall all year, adding to it all the way up until New Year the next year.
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I woke up each morning to “Breathe Moon Child”, along with all the other many messages I eventually collected that year to motivate me towards a happier, healthier and more confident me. The pictures were of a flaming phoenix woman to remind me to rise from the ashes, a full moon that reminded me to look to earth’s beauty when I was down. I drew a large eye and reminded myself to cultivate my “third eye” of intuition, then drew roots and branches from it encouraging me to let that concept take root within myself and grow.