I made this vision board on January 8th of this year. It states, in magazine photos and headlines, my major goals for the year.
My life felt very different back then; I was missing my PNW friends a little more, and still under some pandemic restrictions that made it hard to invite people over or do certain gatherings. In short, I craved friendship — the in-person, tangible kind of friendship where I go to someone’s house, or they come to mine, or we meet at a park and just talk and take a walk.
I’ve spoken with my husband about these friendship goals. He doesn’t crave friendship quite the way I do, but he plays racquetball regularly at a local health club and the camaraderie he feels there helps fill that need for him. We both enjoy associations in our ward (church) family through service and weekly interactions, but they haven’t reached the depth of what I would call a friendship. But hope is on the horizon. We finally had our first Relief Society (women’s group) activity and it was a lot of fun. More activities are yet to come.
The Meet-Up website has been an unexpected boon for me. I’ve joined the SAPL group and receive invites to many library activities in the area. In fact, I created this vision board at a library activity. The added bonus is that I get to discover the many library branches in this big city; one is in an historic building, another has a trail behind it and many are on park grounds or have a playground attached.
The gardening goal has been put on somewhat of a hold due to our retaining wall fiasco. But we did manage to grow a vegetable garden that produced a bumper crop of tomatoes, cucumbers and for the first time ever, watermelons. In fact, we probably grew about 20 good size watermelons and the plants took over our desolate, clay-dirt filled backyard. Towards the end of the year, we bought some tropical looking plants, including a red canna, to fill an area in the front yard.
The travel goal fulfillment can be summarized in two words: road trips. The biggie was my dad’s family reunion in Rio Rancho, NM and subsequent road trip that paralleled Route 66 from Albuquerque to Chicago. We also traveled part of the All Saints Highway (St. Paul to St. Louis,) on our way back from our son’s home in Iowa. A favorite road trip was my birthday trip to New Orleans. As we drove over the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, I thought about all of the alligators swimming below us.
My vegetable eating goal could have gone better. I strived to eat more squashes (acorn, butternut, spaghetti) in the fall and I have done that, but I generally gravitate more to fruits than vegetables. We’ve discovered golden kiwi and love those, and we certainly ate our share of watermelons. But I’ve discovered that Trader Joe’s salads have been the best way for me to get in more greens. I generally try to follow the rule of “eating the rainbow,” so if my dinner plate looks a little colorless, I might add an orange or some blueberries.
Speaking of color, I’m surrounded by it daily as I teach studio art to Kindergarteners and 1st graders. My job at Great Hearts charter school has been a challenge and a blessing: the challenge is classroom management for such a large, wiggly group. The blessings are watching such young minds learn about and then produce such amazing works of art. I’m continually in awe of what these kids create. They have inspired me to do more drawing and painting of my own which directly affects my writing.
Art projects and writing are so interconnected for me. Part of this is because paintings, art museums and artists are such strong themes in my writing. And when I’m writing about an artist and a certain method or style they are using, I can’t help but want to try it myself. This was the case with my recent NaNoWriMo piece called Connecting the Dots. One of my lead characters is an artist specializing in Aboriginal Dot Art — a style that fascinates me. So I started a project of my own in brush markers. It helped me realize the painstaking detail required to actually do that type of painting.
The last goal was almost thrown in later: Teach French again. I didn’t think it was possible, because my many attempts at seeking a French teaching or even tutoring job have been stymied. Through the SAPL group I found out about a Bastille Day celebration through the Alliance Française, and consequently a French conversation group. I joined and discovered that San Antonio has a solid group of Francophones, some expats and some former students or teachers like myself.
Just as this year is coming to a close, I was contacted through Superprof about the possibility of tutoring three boys in French. I gave them a sample lesson, and it looks like with a little bit of schedule-tweaking, it will be a go.
A vision board is just that: you have to put the goal out there into existence — preferably in a visual format — and through prayer, persistence and even a little magic, your goals will come to fruition.
