My Vision {Board}

{“The cool thing?  I look at that vision board, and I believe that there is absolutely nothing on there you can’t do.” ~ BF}

On Saturday, I attended our Girls in Tech 303 Saturday Summit.  This was our first event and was a look at Women in Technology: Past, Present, and Future.  A couple of things from the event really stood out for me, namely mentorship.

Looking back

I’ve done a number of things (observe classrooms, consider secondary ed degrees, worked with organizations that help teach sex ed to young people) over the last ten years or so that have put me on the periphery of doing real work with high schoolers/young women, but haven’t actually followed through on any of those things.  When I finished CorePower Yoga Teacher Training, I knew I eventually wanted to work with middle or high schoolers, and I know it wasn’t accidental to have met and become involved with Mara Rose and The Wellness Initiative as soon as I arrived in Boulder.

Saturday, at the summit, we had three young women in our group.  ”Young women” = two seventh graders and a ninth grader.  My heart was drawn to them and I knew two things: I wanted a mentor, and I wanted to mentor young women. It hadn’t occurred to me that I have more than one passion, area of knowledge, and skill set with which to reach these young women, it also wasn’t accidental that one of the women in attendance was from the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT), a group whose mission includes the mentorship of young women who are interested in working in a tech field.

The wheels started turning.

Here and Now

I’ve had a lot of really great opportunities come my way in the last couple of years with regards to my passion for writing.  I write for a great New Media agency in my hometown of Minneapolis, and I’ve found other incredible opportunities (including jobs, roommates and friends) through this blog.  Writing is at my core, it’s what I know, what I can’t not do, what I want to forever be an active and growing part of my life.

I’ve also found myself with a sort of wanderlust, nomadic leaning and have prioritized travel as something so important that it’s the first line-item in my budget after bills, food, and shelter.  I always have at least one trip planned, and am constantly spinning wheels to wrap my head around the next one.

Full Circle

Almost three years ago, my friend Rod and I were spending countless hours in conversation about wanting something bigger out of life – about wanting to see the world, wanting our entrepreneurial spirits to be able to take us beyond where we were and onto something different.  Rod pushed me to not only consider what I wanted out of life, but to verbalize it, list it, and then start taking action towards it.  He’s actually the friend that pushed me to even consider looking for the opportunity to pursue a yoga teaching certificate.

And then I did, and I moved across the country, and I took big risks that landed me in a really, really great place.

I now hold that certificate, but haven’t taught yet.  As it always does though, as soon as I started considering what it might take for me to make that leap, the universe provided opportunities in connections with people who can help me hone and practice the skills I learned last fall.

Action

Today, I’m taking action.  Taking steps towards finding MY mentor, and towards sharing my love for the balance between yoga and tech with a younger generation.  I’m taking steps towards utilizing my teaching certificate, and towards defining what my goals are with my writing, and where I want to travel.

The Summit on Saturday inspired me to list my priorities:  love, yoga, writing, travel, knowledge.  I looked at the list, recognized it, and immediately remembered that’s exactly the priority list I came up with when I looked at the themes of my Life List.  I knew it was FINALLY time to put all of this in front of me in a way that would be a constant reminder of who I am, where I want to be, and what I want to accomplish, so I finally – years in the making now, I spent the weekend dedicating time and have finally created my first vision board.

Have you ever created a vision board?  What pictures are, or would be, on yours?  What are your priorities, and what are you doing to make those dreams reality?

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Blogger’s note: I did not forget about formspring friday, but the first installation will be formspring Tuesday due to a delay in the video editing process that is simply because I ran out of time.  Stay tuned, as your first Formspring Friday week will be a double feature!

Tagged as: dreams, goal-setting, law of attraction, life in color, life list, live out loud, vision board