A New Vision

I attended The Women’s Mosaic Visioning Workshop on Saturday, and as usual it was a positive, healing and potentially transformative experience. Leading up to Visioning, I’m usually pretty excited. I find the collage process fun and relaxing, and I’m always eager to see what my final product is going to look like.

This time around, I felt like I was really dragging myself to get there, and I felt quite a bit guilty for giving up those six hours in the middle of a Saturday, which is usually a prime chunk of working time for me. I have a book deadline looming, plus an upcoming presentation to work on, and on top of it all, an out-of-town guest who I needed and wanted to spend time with. It was all too much!

I don’t know what inner force compelled me to follow through on the Visioning Workshop, but of course, I’m happy that I went. I know that in the days and weeks to come, when my life calms down, I will be glad to have my new collage up in my workspace. I’ve done Visioning with TWM so regularly over the past couple of years, that it is a familiar practice to glance up at the images for inspiration.

This time around, I was reminded that the Visioning Workshop is more than just a fun, artsy time of self-expression. For those of us who attend regularly, it becomes a touchstone that helps shape the year to come. A time to check yourself, and challenge yourself to be who you need to be.

Kristina Leonardi always starts the workshop by congratulating everyone for setting aside a whole day to focus on our personal needs and desires. Sometimes it’s really hard to do that, and to recognize how important it is in the midst of all the other pressures of life. I guess those moments when you think you don’t have any time for yourself are probably the exact moments when you need it the most!