Vision Board Workshop at Dragonfly Dreams: Living the Dream

Michelle Casey, Vision Board (detail), Collage, May 2010

Part One:

Part of the vision board dream I created for myself a couple of years ago was a desire to be a great art teacher.  Each time I hold a class, I feel myself slowly but surely reaching this goal.  Teaching vision board workshops particularly excites me because I can pass on this passion to others.  As well as getting my students to understand the importance of maintaining a positive attitude, in order to reach their goals, I often have to remind myself to do the same!

This November I held my second vision board workshop in Richmond, Ontario hosted by my friend/artist colleague Wendy Southin of Dragonfly Dreams.  I was psyched up to give the class because my first one had gone very well; I felt this one was going to be even better.  Thanks to valuable feedback from my previous students, I streamlined my notes, devised new demos and made the class more interactive.  Best of all, I extended the length of the workshop from three to five hours giving myself plenty of time to guide students as well as allow them more time to finish their pieces.  I always worry about sending students away with unfinished work – I feel there’s a great risk they might lose their enthusiasm once the class is over.  I really hoped this wouldn’t be the case for this group of five artists.

A week before the workshop, I asked them to prepare themselves by doing a simple visioning exercise, choosing a couple of magazines and selecting several images that resonated with their vision board theme.  A part of me was bent on ensuring everyone had a theme before class – what would they work on if they had no dreams?!  Asking them to keep me informed of any mind blocks they encountered, I hoped to nip that situation in the bud!  Wendy, my host, revealed she was having problems deciding what her theme should be but eventually we found one she felt good about exploring.  My relief was short-lived, however, when my paranoid mind finally made its weekly appearance.  Soon the deadly silence of the others began to worry me… I couldn’t believe there weren’t any other questions or problems… I just wished I knew what was going on in their heads!  A little voice inside me whispered: this was just too good to be true!  As the weekend drew nearer I began to slowly lose my sense of optimism about giving the workshop as I let the time/control-freak within me start spreading her negative vibes…

With all my bad vibes out there, it wasn’t surprising when our fairly new car died the night before the workshop!  With Richmond a bit of a drive out of the city, I exclaimed to my already exasperated hubby: “How the hell am I going to get to Richmond now!?”  I was distraught at the thought of having to cancel the workshop.  As we discovered all the car rental places were booked and no other car options were available, I went into panic mode.  Not long after, a gruff, rumpled looking man from road side assistance came and resurrected our car with his jumper cables saving the day!  For two seconds, my positive self was back… Hurray!  The workshop was back on!  Ignoring the evening’s recent mechanical miracle, my paranoid mind kicked in again.  It began insinuating the car was a bad omen of things to come… OMG I began to wonder wouldn’t it be a TOTAL nightmare for me if ALL my students had no two clues about what they’re vision boards would be about?  What would I do?!  Determined to be ready for anything, I added my advice to Wendy to my notes.  Then I came to the horrifying realization that if that was the case, it would throw my whole perfectly timed workshop schedule off!  A creature whose best friends have long been control and predictability, it terrified me to no end to concede that despite revamping my class hours, my carefully laid out plan would fall to pieces if this one dreadful thought came true… chaos would surely ensue!  Needless to say, I had a restless night’s sleep.  Now you must be wondering how did this crazy paranoid, negative-minded soul ever get to be a vision board teacher?!  Well, the short answer is (you lucky reader, I so tend to run off at the keyboard!)…. that even I have a number of ever so glorious positive-minded moments which have miraculously pulled me through life!  It was at that moment that the side of my ever resourceful positive spirit decided then and there to pray to the “Great Creator” (as writer Julia Cameron has taught me).  I asked the Creator … please give me a good bunch of understanding students … a creative bunch of spirits just like me who despite not being able to finish their vision boards in class would still come away with some solid something to get them believing in the power of the vision board!  After I did this, I was at peace… for a while anyway…

Stay tuned next week for the conclusion of Dragonfly Dreams Vision Board Workshop Part II… and see the nightmare transform into a dream… along with plenty of beautiful visions from the class!