Part 2 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling

Dialoguing with images allowing the non-dominant hand to write for the image, is a creative path inward to the unconscious and deep inner wisdom and guidance. This approach can be used with Vision Boards or simply by choosing images from magazines or in the environment (paintings, photographs, etc.) and interviewing the image, as Donna does here. 

Part 2 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling
By Donna Sparrow

The whole collage

2.18-19.2021 - Woman with walking stick

Who or what are you?
I am a wise explorer. I have traveled far. I have many stories to share. I can see into people’s hearts.

How do you feel?
I feel their desires. I ache for their longings to be known to them. I love watching them discover that they belong and they can create new horizons. 

Why do you feel this way?
Because I have eagle’s wings and eyes. I see the tiny things that other’s don’t notice. I feel the winds that are there to lift other’s off the ground even before they are ready. 

Do you have a message for me?
You have wings, too. You have owl’s vision. You’ve had to learn how to fly in the dark. You are used to not being seen as you fly and as you feed the young. It’s time to become a daylight flyer. It may be a bit bright and it may be uncomfortable at first, people may even point at you, but that is where the winds are taking you. You haven’t flown in the thermals. They will carry you higher in the daylight than you’ve ever flown before. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Be brave. Make practice flights. Trust the winds. Trust your wings. You can be like me.

2.19.2021 - Bottle with feathers and weeds

Who or what are you?
I am the untaken callings, longings and gifts left forgotten along the path like lost feathers and unnoticed weeds in a vessel of time. We are unnoticed or abandoned due to the lack of passion or resilience. 

How do you feel?
Angry. Unimportant. Like a stillbirth. Never given breath. Never given love. Never given life, wild life.

Why do you feel this way?
Because I am the original. Other voices have painted over me and tried to hide my fierce reality. My offerings threaten the culture as it is, but I won’t be ignored. I will be found. I will be remembered. 

Do you have a message for me?
They tried to literally abort you. Since that didn’t work they tried to verbally abort the gifts that wanted to be born. The vessel of time is eternal. It is not too late. You have collected feathers like garlands of amazing callings. They are a charm bracelet of offerings yet to be given. You carry them. You wear them. Now it’s time to share them. Breathe into them. They are waiting. Breathe. 

Do you have anything more to tell me?
I do. But not today.

2.20.2021 - Small earth-loom weaving

Who or what are you?
I am a tapestry of life. All the things woven in. The things you expect to be there and the things you don’t. I am nature at its finest, surprises and the solid ground beneath. 

How do you feel?
I feel alive. I am tightly woven with spaces for things to be added. I am open for change always. I was created on an earth loom and the earth is always on tilt and moving. 

Do you have a message for me?
Be like me with your dreams. Know how hard to pull without ruining the warp…they are the lines that give you direction. But don’t be afraid to add the unusual…even if it’s a bit wild and may have holes in it. Sometimes a weaving doesn’t have a lot of color because it was woven in the barren colors of winter. Don’t reject the quiet season of winter. The colors are just waiting. You may think the tapestry is complete, but it is like life…ull of humor and adventure. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Always leave the spaces. You will be glad you did.

2.20.21 - The word “Sanctuary”

Who or what are you?
I am the sacred place of belonging.
I am safety.
I am boundaries.
I am peace.
I am integrity.
I will never leave you.
I’ve got you. 

How do you feel?
Wild. Free. Solid. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am made out of wind and stars and the dust of before you, that’s why you can lean in. 

Do you have a message for me?
You can dream, there is sanctuary. You can create, there is sanctuary. Just begin and begin again, there is sanctuary. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Show others how to find me.

2.21.2021 - Women at a table outside

 Who or what are you?
I am the spirit of gathering. I create portals for people to go within and to connect with each other. 

How do you feel?
I feel hopeful. 

Why do you feel that way?
When I sense resistance I bring patient courage. I bring memory of memories locked away waiting for the sound of the key turning. I carry smelling salts. 

Do you have a message for me?
I am handing you the smelling salts. Wake them up. Help restore them to their authentic selves. Let them remember who they were before the chisel of culture warped their gifts. Help them to read what is inscribed on their hearts. Use art to awaken their souls. Teach them how to play. Play is a spiritual discipline. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
Don’t forget to play yourself. Dance in your kitchen and buy yourself flowers.

2.21.2021 - Nature mandala

Who or what are you?
I am source. I am the space between your heartbeats. I am inspiration. I am the creative river. 

How do you feel?
Alive. 

Why do you feel that way?
It’s what I am. 

Do you have a message for me?
Connect to me in the stillness, the solitude and in the beauty of nature as you often do, but open your eyes and ears to find me in the chaos and loud places that you avoid. I am there too. Seek beauty in all places. Bring the strength of the quiet within you into the new territories before you. I will show you new creative ways to do things. I will inspire new ways to do the things you’ve always done. I bring the light and the solid force of revelation to your gatherings. I will bring the people as it is me they’ve come to find in themselves. You just set the table. I’ll pull up my own chair.

2.22.2021 - Girl with feather

Who or what are you?
I am the spirit of inspiration. I am the muse. 

How do you feel?
Wild. Light. Free. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am not captured by photos, art or words, though I often touch them. I drift like dandelion seeds on the wind. I move by my own desires and moods. 

Do you have a message for me?
I am loved by many, but faithful to few. If you want me to visit, you must be idle and playful as well as show up to your work regularly. 

Is there anything else you want me to know?

I love to be a surprise so don’t wait for me…just get to it knowing I’ll visit someday.

2.22.2021 - Mountain Range with one Tree

Who or what are you?
I am ageless wisdom. I am love. 

How do you feel?
Rooted and grounded. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because love is what remains when all other things are gone. 

Do you have a message for me?
Your dream of retreats is rooted in love. Love of people. Love of nature. Love of art. These are what gives you the wisdom to create. When you get stuck without ideas, think less and let your heart feel how much you love the people. That will ground you and let you fly above the mountain tops. Love. Love is your main resource. 

Is there anything else you want me to know?
Love never fails.

2.23.21 - The word “Workshop”

Who or what are you?
The magic space to find insight into your questions and beliefs. The magic space where all questions are welcomed. 

How do you feel?
Vast and Wide. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because hospitality expands. 

Do you have a message for me?
Beliefs are to be held lightly. Life has a way of reshaping and repainting them. Let the color filled questions rise up like balloons filled with helium. Float above. Change your view. That’s where creativity dwells. Follow the sounds and sights of new territory. Risk the unknown path. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Trust your gut. Learn to leap. You are unquenchable. You are flowing with fun new ways to express your curiosity. Open the flood gates and ride the wave of creativity and express your raw authentic self. Hold my hand and get ready. Bring your spirit of imperfection and messy beginnings. Remember to trust me. I will be faithful to make it interesting. We will blow your dreams wide open.

2.28.21 - Basket of sewing things with the word “make”

Who or what are you?
I am the basket of options. There are many ways to make things. You can feel pushed to make something a certain way by your Inner Critic. But I am here to offer you a lot of new and different and heartfelt ways to create. I am options. 

How do you feel?
I feel positive. I feel empowered. I feel free. 

Why do you feel that way?
It’s what I am. 

Do you have a message for me?
I have brought you the resources to have options as big as a path to the moon. Have fun. Play. Seriously…PLAY! Listen to your heart. Everything you need is in the basket. It’s all yours.

2.28.21 - Logs with weeds stuck in them on a table.

Who or what are you?
I am nature re-imagined. I am beauty from outside, brought inside. 

How do you feel?
Generous. Seen. Appreciated. 

Why do you feel that way?
I get to be creative and rethink, reflect and break out of old perspectives. 

Do you have a message for me?
Be wild. Be untamed when you see me. Be like a child. Let’s have fun and make beauty. Let’s get messy. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
Keep paying attention.

3.1.21 - Art Supplies

Who or what are you?
I am color. I am the sensations on your eye that reflects light. I am intimately unique to every human. I love this about me. It’s all about the eye and the light. I play in the light. 

How do you feel?
Changeable. 

Why do you feel that way?
I am invisible like magic and wind...I move...I play. 

Do you have a message for me?
Play in the light. Play in the fog, the shadows, the dark. Let your eyes love the colors. Love the sensations of change. Don’t be afraid of change. Your roots are like the Ents, you are like a tree that moves and takes their roots with you. Change is full of colors and newness. They help you be creative. It’s the change that helps you see. Embrace the new colors. Embrace the magic. Play with the light as I do. Let the colors fill you up. 

Do you have anything else to say?
Not now.

3.1.21 - The words “Nurturing Creativity”

Who or what are you?
The way. The path. The map with no names. I am the vision you follow by the will of your heart. 

How do you feel?
Strong. 

Why do you feel that way?
Because I’m a survivor. 

Do you have a message for me?
You are a survivor, too. We’ve held hands for years. Now we can get married. Just say yes. 

Do you have anything else to tell me?
No, but I have lots to show you.

3.2.21 - Clothespins wrapped in colored yarn

Who or what are you?
I am the will to hold fast to the colors, the light, the daily everyday simple joys. 

How do you feel?
Useful. Important. 

Why do you feel that way?
Nothing gets done without me. 

Do you have a message for me?
Wishing and dreaming are the ways to begin. I am the way to take action and to hold on when things get hard. I am in you holding you. You can’t lose me. I’ve wrapped my colors around your heart. Relax and breathe. 

Is there anything else you want to tell me?
Together your dreams will come true. Trust me. Let’s get to work.

Donna Sparrow, Candidate for CJEA Certification
donna.sparrow777@gmail.com

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Lucia

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www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com

Part 1 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling

Our guest blogger, Donna Sparrow is a candidate for certification in our Creative Journal Expressive Arts Certification Program for professionals. My Visioning® method, based on my book of the same name, has been a source of creative and life expression for Donna. As outlined in the book, she has created collages and then done the journal assignments that include writing with her non-dominant hand for gaining insights into the images. Due to the length of Donna's sharing, I've formatted it into two separate posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Part 1 -- Visioning®: manifesting one’s dreams through collage and non-dominant hand journaling
By Donna Sparrow

I’ve made many collages over the years that never become more than wishful thinking. Using Lucia’s method in her Visioning book has taken me deeper than I’ve ever gone before by engaging my right brain through my non-dominant hand. I was constantly surprised and sometimes shocked by what my images had to say about themselves…being portals and options and love. Many seemed to express themes of play and not being afraid of change. I know those are things I especially need to be encouraged in. I grew up in an abusive home where I didn’t play. I hid and survived. I lived in fear and the tiniest failure had harsh consequences.

Having my non-dominant hand tell me that my dream is rooted in love and that love never fails…seriously? My non-dominant hand told me to listen to my heart and to play…to dance in my kitchen and buy myself flowers. Who says these kinds of things! My Inner Child does. Telling me that I have the will to make these things take action, but that it’s holding me. So my Protective Parent steps up. The other tools of CJEA reveal themselves as I learn the skills of expressive arts. The Inner Family Model breaks through even when I’m not focusing on it.

I had to laugh when I asked the image “do you have anything else you want to tell me” and the answer was “no, but I have a lot to show you.” How is that going to work? I guess I will find out.

This is a wild, new ride for me. I have a sense that this vision collage will actually cause things to come into my life. I am committed to engage with it every day. Half of my collage is the display on my phone. That’s a lot of looking at it without much effort. I will change to the other half every month to see whole vision. I’ve committed to go deeper by investing in ongoing journaling.

My next steps are following what Lucia calls The Story Inside The Collage. On pages 136 and 137 in the Visioning book you answer questions by projecting yourself living out your vision. I love the questions about how has your life changed and how have you changed. These questions are designed to move me into embodying my future in the now. My ex-husband used to do fancy skydiving moves with a team of people. He was amazing at it. When I asked why it seemed so easy for him he told me it was because he would visualize it over and over in his imagination. There is magic in Visioning®.

Here is an image of the whole collage I did recently. In Part 2, there are cropped images from this collage to show, and dialogues to share. It’s more fun to do your own, but what I share will give you a sense of what it can be like.



Donna Sparrow, Candidate for CJEA Certification
donna.sparrow777@gmail.com

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Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.
 
www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com

 

Visioning® through Collage and Non-Dominant Hand Writing

In my book Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams, I present my method of life and career creation, which I originated and share in my private coaching practice. The Visioning® process includes the making of collage Vision Boards followed by Creative Journal writing to remove blocks and deepen one’s understanding of the images. Almost all of the writing prompts involve using the non-dominant hand or both hands alternately.

I have observed that we all have natural intuitive abilities to sense what is coming next in our lives. We have hunches or premonitions. We may even have a nocturnal dream that plays itself out in our daily life. This intuitive ability is often buried inside our heart’s desire, which is the core of Visioning®. That is what we are illustrating with our Vision Board. Intuition and the ability to sense the future can be developed with a combination of collage work and non-dominant handwriting. By writing dialogues with the images and words in the Vision Board, we often find much deeper meaning in the visuals than we ever imagined when we tore them out of the magazine. In reviewing our Vision Boards a few weeks or months down the line, we frequently find images and words that are specifically prophetic about what was to come.

A great example is my Vision Board for 2019 and how it manifested.

When I started putting this six-panel Vision Board together in January of last year, I was thinking about a spring and summer book tour for The Power of Your Other Hand. I knew I would be going all over California as well as Texas and New Mexico. Two panels show southwestern scenes as well as seaside areas near where I live on the central coast. That all made perfect sense. It was already part of the “plan.”

I also had some thoughts about a possible vacation later in the year in a favorite spot on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. People having fun on beaches and in swimming pools conveyed that idea, as well as couples dining out. Again, it all made perfect sense.

However, as the process of selecting photos and words for the Vision Board evolved, I found myself including other images that, quite frankly, surprised me. But they “felt right” and I knew I had to include them. One was the image of Helen Mirren, one of my favorite actresses, along with the words.

 Love who you see in the mirror
Look closer and you’ll see
Renewal happens
Get brighter eyes in a blink
See for yourself
Just as you imagined

In an adjacent section of the collage there is a woman and little girl painting and a palette with many colors. At the time, the palette seemed very important to me, but I wasn’t sure why. I hoped I would be able to do more painting just for fun in the new year, although I didn’t know when I’d find time for that. There were also images of gardens and gardeners in a nearby section. I took that to mean that my garden, especially my pride and joy - iris garden - would flourish this year.

I did go on the book tour, as shown in the Vision Board, which was very successful and most enjoyable. And we did go on a short getaway on the central coast and a longer one in Cabo San Lucas, also shown on the Vision Board. No surprise there. But wait, there’s more!

New eyes

In the spring after I made this Vision Board, at a regular check-up with my optometrist, I was told I needed to have cataracts removed. When I made the collage I never anticipated needing cataract surgery. I got the surgery, which was highly successful, and no longer need distance glasses, only glasses for reading and computer work. After revisiting my collage, the words in the first panel I did took on a whole new meaning.

Love who you see in the mirror (I can literally see myself better in the mirror now.)

Look closer and you’ll see (I no longer need distance glasses, and only have glasses for reading and computer work.)

Renewal happens (I can see color in a way I hadn’t for years: without the yellowish caste that cataracts cause.)

Get brighter eyes in a blink (The surgery was painless and fast, each eye done a week apart.)

See for yourself (I am amazed at my “new eyes”.)

Probably the most amazing aspect of cataract surgery for me was the new intensity of color. Without realizing it over the years, white had become yellowish, blue had become dull and greenish, purples looked maroon, and reds looked brownish. I felt like a I had a new wardrobe. Certain articles of clothing were very different in hue than I thought when I bought them. Get brighter eyes in a blink became a reality, in the sense that I got brighter colors in a blink.

And that brings us to the image of the color palette in the collage. Here’s what I wrote about color in my journal while reviewing my Vision Board on April 8, after the surgery:

New eyes, new colors,
New blues, new reds, new purples, new whites, new pinks.

One day while driving around town on errands and marveling at how blue the sky was, I found myself singing the old song, “On a clear day you can see forever.” I hadn’t really seen the true color of the sky and white clouds for quite a few years, it seems. With my non-dominant hand I did a lot of journaling with and about my “new eyes” and what I was seeing. Without realizing it, all those words about seeing had been a preview of coming attractions,

The artist within

Based on the prophetic images in my collage, there was another surprise in store. In the spring I heard about some masters of Chinese Brush Painting who were coming to our area. I immediately registered for classes and workshops with them. This was the manifestation of the image of the woman and girl painting together.

Why is the girl there? I had wondered, when I selected the image. Why not just the woman? As it turned out, taking these art classes took me back to when I began studying art in the 8th grade at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles on Saturdays. My collage really reflected this experience of being a novice in this particular genre of art. As a teenager I had discovered Japanese and Chinese brushes, and I have painted with them all my life (see my earlier post on Zenga Art). However, I had never taken formal instructions in how to use these particular types of brushes. Nor did I know much about Chinese art. These traditional techniques of Chinese painting were new to me. So I did feel like that 8th grader starting all over again.

A new garden design

In relation to the garden section of my collage, we had another surprise in the spring. This one wasn’t pleasant at all. When the irises started blooming, they were eaten by wild bunnies invading our property from the nearby pine forest. They were chewing on the stems and destroying some of the plants. In all my years of growing irises, this had never happened before. I was beside myself about the damage these bunnies were doing. We sprayed the plants, powdered them with cayenne pepper, and tried every deterrent on the market. All to no avail.

 So we redesigned and rearranged the placement of some of the plants, and built a fence to protect them. As pictured in the collage, we did do lots of gardening in 2019, but not the kind we had anticipated. I’m happy to say that most of the plants survived and we are looking forward to a “renewal” in the spring.

If you are interested in learning this process, contact me about one-on-one Visioning® Coaching via Skype.

Visioning: Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams by Lucia Capaccchione (Tarcher/Putnam, 2000)

VisioningCoach.blogspot.com

Lucia

Let us know what you think of this post in the comments below. Follow us and be updated by email when new blog posts are published.

www.luciac.com
www.visioningcoach.org
Order The Power of Your Other Hand (Conari Press 2019) at Amazon.com