Step 1: Arrival & Welcome

The password to watch the video is "envision".

 Introducing Jamie

Hi, there! My name is Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios and I'm so glad that you're joining me for this workshop. We're going to have a wonderful time creating Vision Cards!

Introducing Vision Cards 

Using collage, intuition and intention, Vision Cards are powerful focus tools that inspire and connect you to the things that matter most. Deeply personal, wildly intuitive and intensely evocative, Vision Cards serve as touchstones of our heart’s desires. These visual reminders slip past gremlins, outwit our intellect and speak directly to our soul.

What's Our Agenda?

1. Welcome: We start with this video and written welcome in which I introduce myself and Vision Cards and also confirm the materials and outline the agenda.
2. Guided visualization: The next step is a guided visualization that will shift your energy and get you creating your Vision Cards from a centered and intuitive place.
3. Identifying Three Focus Areas: Using what you know and what you learn in the visualization, you'll determine three focus areas for your Vision Cards.
4. Gathering Images: Using intention and intuition, you'll gather images for your three Vision Cards.
5. Creating Your Cards: You'll create your cards.
6. Activating Your Cards: You'll activate your cards by infusing them with focused energy and desire. I'll also share some tips for keeping the energy going!
7. Celebrate: I always end with a celebration! It's important to take a moment to acknowledge yourself and all that you've created today.

Make sure you have...

• Something to create your Vision Cards on. I recommend large index cards (5x8) but you can also use small index cards, old postcards, pieces of cardboard or even a page in your journal. The key is that you clearly identify that "this space" is dedicated to "this theme area."
• Scissors (optional - you can rip, if  you like)
• Gluestick
• Markers (You may not need them. I like to have them on hand if there's something very important to a particular theme area that I just don't happen to find a picture of)
• Journal. Going through this process there are bound to be things you want to make note of and gather so it's good to have a journal on hand. Don't hesitate to stop anywhere in the process and write yourself a few notes and remembrances.

And so we begin...

Now that we've had a chance to meet and you've had a chance to settle in and make sure that you have everything you need and you've heard a little bit about Vision Cards, let's take the next step: the guided visualization.

Scroll Down to Lesson 2

Step 2: Visualizing

Guided Visualization (approximately 8 minutes)

Find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down, somewhere that you won't be interrupted. Put a sign on the door if you need to, "Important dreaming happening within!" Give yourself about 10 minutes of uninterrupted time for this part of the process. This visualization will help you shift your energy, connect to your self and start the process of discovering the core theme areas you'll explore in your vision cards. Have your journal nearby so that when you finish you can jot down any insights or thoughts that come up during this meditation. When you feel complete, come on over to the next lesson.

Scroll down to Lesson 3

Step 3: Focus Areas

 Vision Card for "Travel" Focus Area

What is a focus area?  

Each Vision Card represents a different focus area in your life. These are fairly broad strokes, things like relationships, home, self-care, money, creativity. A Vision Card may also be made for a particularly large and important project, something with a lot of steps like, "becoming a yoga instructor" or "starting my creative business". What you want to avoid though is focusing on anything too small, anything that is more of a 'to do' (e.g. buy a new coat, get my haircut)  Vision Cards thrive with a clear focus on a big theme.  

Discovering your focus areas...

As you pay attention over time, you'll notice that though some priorities shift and change, there are over-arching themes that tend to remain consistent in your life, themes that become recognizably yours. These are focus areas you can work with again and again, creating new Vision Cards yearly or seasonally. My constant focus areas are: home, work, creativity, relationships, self and spirit. For me, additional topics have included travel, romance, wealth and well-being.

Today, you are going to choose three focus areas that you will use to create your Vision Cards. Through the visualization you may already be clear on what those are. If you have a general idea but are looking for the right language or if you're just not a visualization type of person, I've created a list of some popular themes for you to consider below. I highly encourage you to let your heart  decide on your three areas. It's one of the reasons I created the visualization for you, so you could bypass the "shoulds" and get to what is inside your heart. Choose three theme areas that truly mean something to you, three areas that if infused with some magic would really make a difference in your life.

Potential focus areas...

Home. Creativity. Self. Wellness. Money. Spirit. Business. Play. Romance. Family. Self-Care. Travel. Self-Expression. Community. Learning. Art. Connecting. Work. Fitness. Nesting. Independence. Pleasure. Wealth. Writing. Nourishment. Magic. Beauty. Safety. Adventure. Success. Education. Joy. Parenting. Love.

Name your focus areas...  

Now is the time to name the focus areas for each of your three Vision Cards. On the back of each of your cards write your focus. (You may want to write it at the top or bottom because we'll be doing more writing here later.) Be clear and specific as you set your intention for each Vision Card.  

Claim your focus areas...  

Be sure you choose three focus areas before moving onto the next lesson. You can always make more Vision Cards, but for here and now be clear and choose. In fact, take a moment and say aloud (even if it's only quietly)...

Today, I choose to focus my attention and energy on.... (name your focus areas). 

You can also take a moment and write this in your journal. There is power in making a decision and magic in declaring your choice. Once you've named and claimed your three focus areas, you can move on to the next lesson.

Scroll Down to Lesson 4

Step 4: Gathering

Now it's time to collect images...

Holding your focus areas lightly in your mind, peruse some magazines and start gathering pictures and/or words for your cards.  Here you can start to get more specific about what you want. If one of your Vision Cards is about creativity, you might choose an image of a paintbrush or a pointed toe or a studio or a beautifully set table, depending on how you want to explore that focus.  

Intention

In each of your focus areas, there may be things you already know you want. Keep your eyes open for images that represent these specifics. For example, you may be clear that your Travel Vision Card needs the Eiffel Tower (like mine!) or that your romance card needs a candlelit dinner. This are images/words you choose with intention. They send both you and the Universe a clear message, identifying precise desires and inviting them into your life. If you don't find a precise image/word, you can write or draw in exactly what you want. Be specific. "I want a home on a cul-de-sac" or "I want new luggage." You can also choose images that are highly symbolic, as long as they make sense to you. I often choose vases overflowing with blooming flowers to represent prosperity; they symbolize gorgeous abundance to me.  

Intuition

As well as choosing intentionally, let your intuition be a part of your image gathering. If something catches your eye, even if you can't quite understand why, even if you don't particularly like it, trust that instinct and pull it out. You may discover that as it comes together with the other images, its significance is revealed. Give it a chance to show its meaning.  

Don't edit...  

While you're gathering, don't do any editing. Whatever catches your eye, pull it out. Simply create three image piles, one for each focus area, and enjoy watching them grow.  

Mystery pile...

I also recommend that you keep a mystery pile for images/words that grab your attention but somehow don't quite seem to fit in your present focus areas. At the end of your gather time, if you find that you have very few pictures in your "work" pile and your mystery pile is full of "self-care" images, your spirit is helping you refine your choices. Let work go for now and instead create a Vision Card for the self-care priority that has shown up.    

Enjoy this creative time... 

Don't rush through this process. Give yourself a good 30 minutes to gather the pieces of your vision. When you feel you have enough or have spent enough time, move onto the next lesson.

Scroll Down to Lesson 5

Step 5: Creating

 

Honing in...

 

Working with one card at a time, start to look at the images you've gathered. Now is the time to start editing, to see which images start to come more strongly into focus, which ones fade away. You may find yourself wanting to hone in on only a part of the picture, cutting out just the cat, the mug, the moon. Take a look at your mystery pile and see if some of those images fit right onto one of your three focus areas. You might be surprised to discover where that dragon belongs.

Letting go...

Not every image will make it onto your Vision Cards. That's absolutely fine. Trust your instincts. Let your intuition make decisions and narrow it down. You can always find a home for unused images in your journal or a dreamboard or the next round of Vision Cards. Or you can simply let them go.  

Taking time to notice...  

This is a wonderful time to notice any trends, the colours you've chosen, the symbols, the guides. You might start to see that for you, home is always green and white and that family is all about smiles and laughter. If you like, take a few moments to journal what you notice.

Putting it together...

Feel free to play with the possibilities, placing, without gluing, some images on your board and seeing where they feel at home. Move the images around, playing with composition and combinations. When things start to feel like they're falling into place, it's time to glue.

When you've created your three Vision Cards, move onto the next lesson.

Scroll Down to Lesson 6

Step 6: Activation

The beauty of these cards is they serve as a touchstone on the journey to your dreams. Trust that you have already started to stir up magic, simply by identifying your focus areas and spending time visioning. Every time you engage with your cards, you activate them more and more, inviting the energies of all you've envisioned again and again into your life.  

Activation...

On the back of each Vision Card, take a few minutes to put into words what you are visioning for this area of your life. You can write this just like a journal entry or write it as a request to the Universe. Know that with each word, you are activating your card, setting your intention and speaking directly to your heart and the powers that be.  

Continue to activate your Vision Cards...

There are many ways that you can keep the energy of your vision alive. Here are just a few:

• Revisit them every morning and before you go to bed.
• Display them where you will see them regularly and with ease.
• Carry them with you and take them out throughout the day to remind you of what's important and where you're headed.
• Choose a theme song for each Vision Card.
• Keep a digital version of your cards on your phone, as your computer wallpaper or screen saver.
• Look at each Vision Card and ask, what can I do today to bring this vision to life?
• When making a decision, use your Vision Cards as a compass to guide the way.
• Create a slideshow. (Below you will see one I made a while ago. It still moves me!)

 

You're done! Now let's celebrate!

 Proceed to Lesson 7

Step 7: Gratitude & Celebration

Congratulations on Creating Your Vision Cards!

Thank you...

Thank you for going on this journey with me today. I'm so glad that we've connected. It fills me with joy to know that we are together on this wishBig adventure, this journey towards all that you dream of.  

Thank your self...

Please take a moment to thank your self for showing up today, for investing in your life and in your dreams!

You have begun...

This is just the beginning - and what a magical beginning it is. Today you have connected to your self and discovered some key focus areas in your life. You have chosen three areas to tend to today and have let your intuition and your intention create a vision for each one. Your focused attention, your creative energy, your expression of desire in words and images, all have activated your dreams and your Vision Cards with clarity and energy. Your Vision Cards will hold your focus and guide you along the way. Use them as powerful personal touchstones on the journey to your dreams.  

Celebrating...

 As we wrap up this precious time together, what would you like to celebrate? I'm right here with you, cheering you on! 
 

Your Vision Card Leader Jamie Ridler

 If you enjoyed this workshop and would like to share a testimonial, please email me with what you liked about it and how it made a difference for you. Feel free to include a photo of yourself, a photo of your vision cards and a link to your blog or website.  

You may just find yourself featured at Jamie Ridler Studios!