There were signs of a union on my 2023 vision board even before we’d discussed a wedding
My current Intuitive Vision Board (IVB) takes pride of place at the kitchen table next to Sam’s. It reminds me daily to stay open to the opportunities this board represents, yet to be manifest in 3-D reality, and not to jump to foregone conclusions about what the images might mean.
My board is also positioned to receive the full blast of the afternoon sun. I like to think this bring ‘Fire’ energy to the vision. It also means some images on the IVB have lost their original vibrancy – but the precognitive messages inherent in them are still apparent.
A quick recap of events …
I first met Sailor Sam as he transpired to be, three months after creating my 2021 IVB. I didn’t know it at the time of creating the board that only a week or so later I would move to Padstow, where Sam and I were to meet in person. Although my vision board contained images of romance, sailing and the sea, l myself was land-locked, locked-down and living alone in North Oxon – 270 miles from Padstow. But the magic of the vision board began its work immediately and when I was offered the opportunity to move to the coast, I jumped at the chance.
Written in the stars
Because I didn’t know a soul in Padstow I gave myself a month to settle in but from day 1 coincidences were occuring which suggested this move would be most fruitful. I then felt ready to venture online and it came to pass that I met Sam on the very first day ‘swiping right’. My friend Aileen refers to Sam as my £19.99er – the cost of a months’ subscription to Ourtime because after that I cancelled my membership.
I’d thought to limit my search to men in Cornwall. Silly me, I thought Fordingbridge where Sam lived was in Cornwall, only to discover it was in the New Forest. But it was too late. Cupid had already pierced us with his arrow. After a sea-worthy courtship up and down the length and breadth of Cornwall, we moved back to North Oxfordshire together, into a home which had also featured on the same original love-struck vision board. Looks like our future had been pre-ordained for us.
Love became marriage
The highlights of the board above I’m about to share have transpired since January this year. When I created it we’d spoken loosely about the possibility of getting married at some stage and that was all. This would change in March when Sam presented me with an engagement ring on one knee at Stepper Point in Padstow. Even so we didn’t set a date because of the queue since Covid had brought marriages to a halt.
Our moment for union came in October. Even though I’d made the board 8 months previous, I discovered it was a good source of wedding inspiration in terms of my outfit, the entourage of roses, and even where we settled on for our honeymoon.
Adventure awaits
Somehow I felt this vision board began in the centre with the image above. I was surprised to discover the words ‘Adventure Awaits’ concealed inside the cave because my recommendation to IVB makers is that they steer clear of words and let the hidden depths to the images speak for themselves. Suffice to say, ‘adventure’ had already reached our shores before marriage with no less than two curved balls testing our resolve to become a partnership since Sam first proposed to me. Our choice was to find a way to move through them together.
The two images of the sun going down speaks to me of some aspect of my life coming to a natural completion and, in so doing, unncessary pieces sloughing off from the top and sides during the ‘cool down’. This year feels like a big personal transition. I’d been ‘unmarried’ for 26 years. No matter how consciously I have chosen this, this life transition will jostle with my identity, bringing into question where might I be required to change and grow. Challenging what I might do differently and the implications and consequences of doing so?
Since my work is to help people negotiate life transitions that are hazy and unclear at the start, it’s no bad thing that I go through this myself and be reminded of the vulnerability and insecurity attendant upon any change.
Two old goats
The “Beach lovers” image speaks to me of the love we two older beach bodies share of the sea. Sam as an ex transatlantic sailor and me, because I practically grew up in the sea until I left home for Durham University.
I love the two large and impressive goats with their heads bowed down to one another. To me it’s a mark of respect. Funnily enough, we both have star signs with horns – Aries the Ram and Capricorn the Goat.
Within 3 weeks of these majestic creatures appearing on my board we went to Bournemouth for some sea air in the depth of winter. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I spotted goats exactly like these on my board on the hillside overlooking the beach, placed there to keep the scrub down – and only five minutes’ drive away from where Sam used to live. What does this portend I wonder? Is it a sign that one day these two old goats will return to Dorset?
Woman in feathers
The woman dressed in gold feathers conveys an ease of presenting herself in her moment of glory – an image I drew upon to inspire how I might feel on my wedding day. I stopped short of the feathers. But when I spotted my friend in a shop handling the white layered skirt, I knew this was just the effect I was looking for – and borrowed it off her since she had just bought it!
Like the model I wore shiny, pointy toe shoes and a cinched belt, except mine had a starfish on. I wore an octopus around my neck (normally Sam wears it) to complete the sea theme and because all of my recent vision boards have been populated with this element. And there can’t be many brides who request an octopus wedding cake – or have a friend who is talented enough to make it.
Red roses
Look at all the red roses dotted around my 2023 vision board. They so inspired me to carry a bouquet of roses, in contrast to the rest of my outfit. Look at how similar the heart-shaped posy was to the one I carried, which had been arranged as a surprise by a friend.
Hot lips
The red lipstick calls to mind the make-up lesson I had at Bobbi Brown’s and the red lipstick I came away with among other glam delights. I don’t usually wear much make up so I used this opportunity to invest the time in discovering how to use it properly. It was fun. And when my confidence wobbled nearer the time, a talented client came to my rescue with a brilliant top-up lesson.
King size bed
To be fair we had considered purchasing a larger bed before I made this vision board. But we had not anticipated it would be our friends who’d club together to make it happen as a wedding present.
Lobster pots, human choreography & Sardinia
The image of the lobster pots in the harbour reminds me of Padstow, although it isn’t Padstow.
The red shape underneath it is a human choregraphy, where people have assembled dressed in red. For what reason I don’t know – I don’t even like the image. But it’s not there for me to like. True to the intuitive process, I was drawn to it and that precisely why it had to be included on my vision board until it’s richer meaning became clear.
8 months later …
We didn’t think we’d be able to take a honeymoon since Sam had recently started a new job. At the last minute we found we could and so I thought I’d give Lucky Trip a try.
Lucky Trip is a cool travel app in which you enter three criteria: your dates, the countries that appeal to you, and your budget. Up pops a selection of holidays that fit the bill which, in our case, included Sardinia – a place I’d always wanted to go.
To my surprise, the compact shape of Sardinia, with its various promontories and enclaves, is not so dissimilar in shape to the human choreography on my vision board, where it sits next to the Medieval town of Matera where the most recent Bond was filmed. It so happens that Alghero, where we stayed in Sardinia, is also a Medieval town.
And the biggest surprise of all was when we went shopping. We discovered that red coral is an integral part of the identity, history and nature of Alghero for which it is famous – as you can see from just one of many jewellery outlets. How on earth would I have known this cognitively when I constructed this vision board 8 months earlier. But my intuition had led me to it. I truly believe if I hadn’t chosen the image, we would not have visited Sardinia in 2023 and yet I think it’s going to be one of my favourite places in the world.
More adventures to come
This is the story of my 2023 vision board so far. All that remains is for me to live the final leg of it, which features the woman in command of the merry-go-round, inviting people to step on the merry-go-round of life, with all its ups and downs, the mystery that it is.
I am also drawn to the armchair and bookcase underneath it. It’s already speaking to me of the new writing project I’m about to embark on – with the help of you my customers and readers.
I always love to hear your stories about the journeys you’ve taken and to share these with other merry-go-round travellers, if you’re inclined to inspire others with your intuition and courage. Let me know if you’re up for narrating your story and we can arrange a coffee on Zoom.
To attend a workshop please check out my webpage for current dates.