- Get what you want by drawing your goals on paper. - Maya Calica
Who wants to attract a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life this year? If you answered yes, here are three creative projects to help make your dreams come true. The best part? They're fun and easy to do — and really work.
The law of attraction
This universal law made popular by the book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne states that we draw to ourselves what we constantly think about. And since our mind works in pictures, what better way to attract what we want than through a visual representation of our goals.
Imagination is everything
Imagination comes from the root word, "image" which means picture. When we see a picture of what we want, achieving it becomes more accessible. Throughout history, everyone from Bible prophets to famed physicist Albert Einstein affirmed this. "Imagination is everything,” said Einstein. “It is the preview of life's coming attractions." In the good book, it is written, "Without a vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18).
The "magic" behind the practice comes from the constant reinforcement of these positive images: By being exposed to them on a regular basis, you are moved to act on your goals.
Drawing the law of attraction
I first became curious about drawing as a tool for dream manifestation when I read the book, You Already Know What to Do: 10 Invitations to the Intuitive Life by Sharon Franquemont (Tarcher/Putnam Books, 2000). Franquemont had an exercise called "Logo for your future life" that required sketching images to represent what you wanted to change. I tried it, and realized that it actually worked with amazing results (more about that later).
The bottom line was this: I had learned that illustrating goals was a powerful way of making dreams come true. Here are three creative ways to get the law of attraction moving in your life.
Draw your dreams
All you need: paper, colored pencils or your preferred artist's tools. Use symbols that engage your emotions and inspire you, i.e. hearts for wedding rings or lasting love, dollar signs for money, rainbows for happiness, or an airplane or globe for travel. Use colors to enhance your drawing. And then sign it with the date you feel you want this to be fulfilled.
I introduced this dream drawing ritual to two very dear friends eight years ago. Like me, they wanted positive changes in their lives. In a dimly-lit bar, we drew our future lives on the white paper placemats using whatever we fished out of our bags — ballpens and black eyeliner. For the next 30 minutes, we drew shapes, connected lines and used our imagination to envision the life we wanted, pausing only to sip our 90-proof cocktails. Afterwards, we signed each other's drawings, signifying we were witnesses for one another's success.
Less than a year later, all three of us had accomplished dreams we had committed to paper. Since then, I have shared this ritual with more friends. Each time, we have all come away from the exercise with much success ranging from dream jobs, love and marriage, children, and exotic travels.
Make a goal book, treasure map or vision board
When I read "Glenna's Goal Book" in the original Chicken Soup for the Soul by Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canning, I was inspired. There she was, a single mom, who compiled images that represented her desires to pay off her mortgage, fall in love and "rekindle some dreams" in a goal book. Eventually, they all came true.
If you can't draw to save your life, take old magazines and cut out pictures that reflect what you want. Then on a corkboard (or cardboard), tack (or glue) these images in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.
In Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain (Nataraj Publishing, 2002), the author recommends that you put yourself at the center of your treasure map or vision board by sticking a photograph or drawing of yourself. "Show yourself being, doing, or having your desired objective — traveling around the world, wearing your new clothes, or being the proud author of your new book," she writes. And don't worry about how it will happen. "You don't need to indicate how it's going to come about," adds Gawain. "This is the finished product."
Create a home movie
If you like music and moving images, then this project is for you. Want to lose weight? Select a colored photo of the ideal figure you want. Hoping to travel to India, Paris or Rome? Download royalty-free images of these beautiful cities. Now, using iPhoto on the Macintosh or Powerpoint or some other slideshow software for the PC, create a “home movie” with your images and set it to music. Got a theme song that gets you pumped up or makes you happy? Use it. Then watch your home movie everyday — while you get dressed for work, while cooking — to get you excited about what you want.
See to believe
Now that you've completed your drawing, goal book, treasure map, vision board or home movie, keep it where you will see it every day. Hang it on the wall, stick it next to your dresser mirror or save it onto your desktop. Reinforce your belief that anything is possible by looking at them daily and feeling thankful, as if they’ve already happened.
A final story
When I first did the "Logo for your future life" exercise, I drew symbols of my ideal scene: me with a guy (love life), a woman (family approval aka my mother) and a farmhouse and duck with a longish neck (to represent an idyllic life in the country). Guess what? That scene came true a day short of the actual date I wrote on my drawing. The wildest part of it? A goose — not too different looking from my long-necked duck — chased me from the farm all the way to the car. It reminded me about that oft-said phrase: Be careful what you wish for. Because with imagination and creativity, you will most probably get it.
Maya Calica - Maya Calica
