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Dream a Little Dream Board


By Robin Kaye



Last April, I was at the Washington Romance Writers Retreat and I heard P.C. Cast talking about her writers’ journey. She’s had one heck of a trip and has since become one of my heroes. But that’s a story for another blog. One of the many things that made a huge impression on me was when P.C. spoke about her dream board.

P.C. Cast put all her dreams on a poster board and looked at it often. The day she hit the USA Today Best Sellers List, she thought to herself that when she hit the NY Times list, she’d have to make a new dream board because she would have accomplished all the dreams she put on it. P.C. took another look at her dream board and realized that she’d put the USA Today List, not that NY Times List! It was time for P.C. Cast to make a new dream board.

I went right home and started on my very own dream board because, like P.C. Cast, I want to achieve my dreams. I want to see my book on the NY Times List, to vacation at the beach, take my kids to Europe, move back to the mountains, and spend weekends with my family on a really nice sailboat. I want to finish remodeling my house and have a beautiful kitchen with double ovens and a Wolf stove. I want to be fit and healthy. I want a nice little sports car and a garage to park it in. I’d love to go shopping and not worry about breaking the bank. I want to escape, exhale, relax. I want to write my books and achieve my dreams.

I spent a couple afternoons with my friend Jess putting together dream boards. I checked out countless magazines, ripping out pictures and phrases that encompass my dreams. With Jess’ artistic help, we glued and pasted on the pictures, and today I have my board hanging in my bedroom. It’s one of the first things I see when I wake up and one of the last things I before sleep.
So tell me, do you believe in creative visualization? Do you have a dream board? If you don’t, what would you want on it?

Comments

  1. Ys, I believe visualizing your goals helps. One of the things I was thinking recently is that I set some goals for myself at the start of the year and I met them for the first six months, but have fallen off since then.

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  2. Hi Walt!

    It's wonderful to see you here as always. So, are you going to make a dream board? As for the goals, I've fallen off mine too. Time to climb back on that horse and start riding and writing!

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. My wife will likely make me hang it in the closet if I do, so I'll have to find another way. :-)

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  4. Robin,

    Great post! I have been a believer in visualization since I was a kid.

    The idea of a dream board is very fun and creative. I think I might try this.

    I do have a goals list that I pull out all year long at various times to see how I am doing. I have two goals left but there always seems to be another one that comes along not on the list that drws my attention...like a new novel instead of one that I started as part of last year's NanoWrimo.

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  5. I like that idea. Definitely something worth trying, though I'm not artistically inclined; I couldn't even draw a straight line *with* a ruler. But I am very linear-minded, so all my cut-outs would probably be in alphabetical order by shape or color. (You should see my clothes closet or my yarn stash.)

    I'm with you; I want to sell and see my book on the NYT list, then have my book adapted into a movie and see my characters come alive on the Big Screen. I want to be able to send my kids to the college they want to go to, not just one we can afford. I want to be debt-free. (I can see some spam headed my way about credit counseling.) I want to fit back into my LBD. And I want a space of my own in this house. That is such a long story, I may have to blog about it myself. :)

    Thanks for sharing, Robin!!

    LOL; my word verification was "BACALOCO". Is that Spanish for "crazy rum?" (BACArdi?)

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  6. I basically have only one dream: To earn enough on my books to retire from the nursing job. That's all. I've done most of the other things I ever wanted to do, and I've discovered that no matter how much you want a material object, when you finally get it, it does not make you happy the way you thought it would. Add this to the fact that all of my closest friends are at the hospital it makes achieving that dream a bit less attractive. Perhaps I'm not single minded enough.

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  7. Robin, I've never tried the visualization board, but I do believe in positive affirmation. This is fantastic. Linda Sandoval had wonderful tips for us writers. At the beginning of the year, she puts her goals and dreams in an envelope and then she mails it to herself. She doesn't open it until the end of the year. But all year long she strives toward that goal. I'm adding PC's suggestion to my affirmations. Thanks!

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  8. Hi, Robin. Great post. I have a board in my office too. Have for years, although it's been redone several times. I think it's so important to set goals, have dreams. They help keep you focus when life happens.

    Have a good one,

    AJ
    www.autumnjordon.com

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  9. No dream board here---yet. I've come to the realization that taking dreams from the ethereal to the concrete is essential if you want things to happen. A vague notion isn't enough to spur a person on. I've always used lists before, but they are easily lost under the mountains of paper littering my office so always require search and rescue for viewing, and who has time?

    Now, the question is where would I hang a dream board. All the wall space in the office is hidden behind bookshelves.

    Dilemma, dilemma. Maybe, rather than a board, I'll just pin the pics to the curtain near my desk. I'll think of something. Thanks for the idea!

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  10. Neat idea, Robin. I'd so love to do some remodeling on the house, and have a gardener, someone who cleaned the place, trips all over the world...but of course your comment about a Wolf stove caught my eye! Sounds like something I truly need! And yes, to have the wolf series made into a movie would be grand...Underworld, move over. :)

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  11. Denise~

    Enjoy making a dream board, I did it with a great friend who is very artistic, something I'm soooo not. It was a blast.

    Carla~

    I had the same problem, surely you have an artistic friend you could bribe into helping. Thank God for Jess is all I can say. Buy a bottle of wine and cut away!

    Cheryl~

    I'm not a very materialistic person, but the few things I have wanted and gotten, I still adore. I've had my Sequoia for 5 years, it's has over 100,000 miles on it, and every time I get into the car I think, I love my car. I know, I'm strange. I'm looking forward to my Wolf stove and I know every time I use it, I'll be pinching myself and thinking, I love my stove! As for making enough money not to work your day-job, that might be hard to get a picture of.

    Donnell~

    I'm so glad you enjoyed the blog. I write down my 1, 5 and 10 year goals. It really helps. Not too long ago my DH and I found our first set of goals, now almost 20 years old. We've achieved every one!

    Autumn,

    Thanks for dropping by! I'm glad to know you're a believer. It's wonderful that you've had to redo your dream boards. I'm assuming some of those dreams have come true. You go, girl!

    Pat~

    I had the same problem in my office, that's why I put my dream board in my bedroom. DH doesn't mind as long as he gets to sail on my sailboat and travel with me, eat the food cooked on the Wolf stove, and drive my nifty little sports car.

    Terry~

    LOL - I have a thing with fine stoves that cost as much as a nice used car and you have a thing with Wolves! If you love to cook too, it might just work out for you.

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  12. Robin, wow! I love this. I think I'll make my kids do them too. At least so that they can remember some of their dreams.

    My dream board would have a Cherry red Mach 71', a 2009 black Camaro, the Highlands, Donegal, Jerusalem, Greece, and Nekker Island, all right along with the NY Times best seller list.

    This is awesome. I can't wait to put mine together.

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  13. Renee~

    What a great idea you had to have your kids do them. I never thought of that! I might just have my kids do one too. What a great way to get them started making goals.

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  14. I made a physical dream board once (called something else, I can't remember what) and kept having it fall off the shelf it was on to the floor. Now I use Publisher and make a Dream/Goal Poster, with anticipated dates of completion - which I print out and have everywhere. On my bathroom mirror, file cabinet by my desk, on the door to my in-home office, folded (picture side out) in my datebook. . . wherever I can see it. I've had to change dates a few times but the dreams and goals are still there.

    Thanks for sharing and I need to get busy on a couple of items!!

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  15. I don't have a whole dream board, but I have a photo taken at this year's RWA Literacy Signing of me standing behind the table in "my" spot - between Lynn Rae Harris and Ellen Hartman. I printed a copy on 8-1/2 x 11 paper and taped it to my office door.

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  16. I did something like this one summer with a the kids I nannied for--there were four of them, and between my mom, my dad and myself, there are a TON of different magazines in our house. I had them make collages of the things they wanted to do all summer--simple from going to the park to taking a trip to Disney world. We didn't go to Disney (lol), but we had a lot of fun, and I was able to really find out what they really wanted to do.

    Like Donnell, I definitley believe in positive affirmation!

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  17. Tessa~

    What a great idea! I love that you have copies everywhere.

    Gail~

    Very cool! Way to visualize.

    Danielle~

    That sounds like a fun summer. I was thinking of making dream boards with my kids. It's good to have goals.

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  18. Sounds nice, but I used to hate all that gluing and sticking with the kids. I'd probably just resent the unfulfilled instead of feeling filled with possibilities.

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  19. Robin, I have one of sorts. No where as elaborate as what you're describing.

    To know where you want to go you have to see the path and work towards it. You can't do that unless you have goals. I think you have to visualize your goals to achieve them. Whether that's a board, a list, or a computer generated pictorial--whatever works. Bottom line one needs to identify what they want and how to make it reality.

    BTW, I'm looking forward to reading your ARC of Breakfast in Bed. Sounds fun and I love Becca.

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  20. I have a dream board that I am working on now and I totally believe that it harnesses the energy of the universe.

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  21. I love the idea of a dream board. This is a fabulous! :)

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  22. Very thoughtfull post on creative visualization.It should be very much helpfull

    Thanks,
    Karim -
    Positive thinking

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