When I discovered the LOA, I read a lot about the power of vision boards and decided to give it a try. Most websites suggested getting a bunch of magazines, cutting out pictures and gluing them to a board. There was only one problem with that: I HATE arts and crafts with a passion. I was terrible at art class when I was a child, I never colored in the lines, and when I’m old and in a nursing home, I will not participate in any projects involving glue, tape or scissors. Thankfully, modern technology made it possible for me to make a vision board by pulling relevant pictures from Google Images, making them into a collage, and saving the board to my computer background. After years of creating several background vision boards, I would like to share how they helped me manifest free movies, a treadmill and an apartment.
I love watching movies. Netflix is the greatest invention ever and allows me to watch a wide variety of movies anytime I want to. But, nothing compares to the experience of going to the movie theater: the smell of popcorn and artery butter; the excitement of seeing your favorite movie on the big screen; and the conversations that good, bad and terrible movies elicit. It’s a bunch of great experiences wrapped up into one location. It is also a very expensive experience and when I moved to the East Coast for my law clerk job, the salary didn’t exactly support my movie-going habits.
As stated previously, when I moved, I didn’t know anyone. Going to the movies alone was a little weird for me, so I started going on Sunday mornings when the theater wasn’t very crowded. But, I really wanted to go with someone or a group. I wasn’t really sure how. But, I found the above picture online and put it in my vision board and just focused on how it felt to go to the movies with friends.
A week or so later, someone at work mentioned meetup.com to me and suggested I search there for local meetup groups that go to the movies. After a few minutes of searching, I came across one that looked like it would be fun. I paid for the ticket online, met the group at the theater, watched the movie, then went to dinner with the group to discuss the movie afterward. And I loved it! While the group was at dinner, I mentioned that it would be a good idea to do a Sunday morning movie followed by brunch. The next day, the meetup organizer emailed me and asked if I would be interested in being an assistant organizer and helping set up some Sunday morning & brunch movie meet ups. As an assistant organizer, I would be able to attend the movies with the group for free. I still had to pay for movie snacks and dinner afterwards, but that made a huge difference.
By just adding a simple image to my vision board and focusing positively on it, I had not only manifested a movie group, but I had manifested free movies.
While working as a law clerk, I had a 15 minute walk to the courthouse from my apartment and that served as my cost-effective workout plan. The following year, when I got the job at the law firm, which was a 20 minute drive away, my cheap workout was no longer available and I began looking into different workout options. I didn’t live close enough to any gym that had late hours so I started looking into buying a treadmill.
I had a small apartment, but it was shaped in such a way that a treadmill could fit right into the corner. Plus, it was a basement apartment, so the treadmill would not disturb any other tenants. So, I found the above picture online, and put it onto my vision board. Then, I began searching online for reasonably priced treadmills and found a few that I thought I’d be able to afford if I saved for a few months. I began to think about how I would run on the treadmill while watching certain TV shows that I DVRed (especially The Walking Dead). I used to think about how convenient it would be to work out in my own apartment without having to go anywhere.
A couple weeks later, one of the partners at my law firm asked me to go to court with her. While leaving court, we were talking and out of the blue I mentioned to her that I was trying to find a treadmill. All of a sudden, she turned to me and said, “I have a treadmill that has been sitting in my garage for a year and I never use it. I want it out of there. Come and get it tonight.” So, that night, I drove to her house and her husband helped me load the treadmill into the back of my SUV. Then, a friend helped me lug it into my apartment. I worked out that night while catching up on The Walking Dead.
A couple years later, I decided I wanted to move into another apartment and found the above picture online and added it to my vision board. The apartment I lived in wasn’t terrible but I could tell that I was growing out of it. It was a small one-bedroom basement apartment that had virtually no natural light, depressingly cold winters, and a landlord who didn’t like to fix things unless you threatened him with legal action. But, it included a off-street parking space, was near my job and I could play my music as loud as I wanted to because the walls were thick.
Every time I looked for apartments online, I was frustrated. The places were either too expensive or if they were affordable, they were about the size of a matchbox or looked like a crime scene. I didn’t want to move far away from work but I didn’t want to go broke on rent. So, I stopped searching whenever it didn’t feel good.
One day, after having to play the lawyer card to get my landlord to fix my toilet, I began searching online again and I found the perfect place. It was located in a very hip neighborhood near bars and shops, included an off-street parking space, and not only had natural light but had a beautiful city view. It was a bit above my price range, a little smaller than the place I already had, and didn’t have a dish washer, but it just felt right to me. I called my Mom and told her that I would have to completely deplete my savings to move and I asked for her advice. She simply told me to pray on it. So, I did. Then, I googled the reviews of this place and saw that 95% of the reviewers on 3 different apartment rating sites complained about rats and roaches in the apartments. *cue the Price is Right fail horn*
So, maybe I was doing this vision board process all wrong. How had I felt like the rat and roach apartment was perfect for me? Wasn’t I supposed to trust my feelings? I was completely confused. But I was grateful that I had taken the time to google this place before rushing into a terrible situation. I continued to look at the picture on the vision board and continued to believe that I could have what I wanted.
A week later, I went to dinner with a group of friends. One of them was excited to let us know that she had gotten a job in another state and was moving in a couple months. I immediately asked her if I could have her apartment, partially joking. But, when she told me the price, I was shocked. It was a 2 bedroom apartment that was actually in my price range (less than the one bedroom rat and roach apartment). When I went to see the apartment, I fell in love with it. It had tons of natural light, a dishwasher and was also close to work. At first I did not think I could get it because it didn’t have an off-street parking space, but the landlord let me have a spot for a little extra rent. I moved there and couldn’t be happier.
Apply This to Yourself
A vision board doesn’t magically make things happen. Rather, it is an effective tool that can help you focus on what you want. You can use it for something as simple as getting an occasional free movie ticket. Once you see it working in your life, you can try to manifest bigger things like exercise equipment. And then, you can go for bigger things that you may perceive to be harder to find, like a nice apartment.
If what you want doesn’t come to you immediately, don’t give up. I was sure that the rat and roach apartment was right for me. But I think the reason I was “so sure” about that place was because I had been looking for so long and it was the first place that seemed to have most of the qualities I wanted. In hindsight, it really didn’t and I would have been worse off there than I was before, but paying almost double the rent. After I realized that place was definitely not “the one,” I remained grateful and never stopped believing I could have what I wanted.
Have you manifested things in your life by using vision boards? Please share in the comments!
