How to Use Vision Boards to Save Ourselves From the Apocalypse
Get active in the most passive way possible
The end of the world is fast approaching.
Whether or not it will be the true and final apocalypse promised in many religions and mythological texts, it sure as hell feels like we’re standing on the edge of a precipice.
Smallpox, the Spanish flu, and other deadly, contagious viruses may be eradicated, and we may have learned from them, but now that COVID is here we get to start over.
Fascism and authoritarianism have descended on humanity many times before to painful ends, but here we are again, with leaders in the American Republican party praising Hungary’s authoritarian government and no one batting an eye at the blaring warning lights.
Texas is reviving an old American tactic of siccing Americans on Americans in order to receive a bounty, just like in movies about the Wild, Wild West.
And then there’s climate change. What can be said about a world in which the use of the word “unprecedented” has become so ubiquitous?
Floods. Hurricanes. Vigilante Justice in Texas. Armed militias in Portland. Corrupt, lying, self-interested, scandal-plagued politicians in both parties.
If this were a movie setup, someone would suggest they rein in the drama a bit. Because honestly, how can we expect our hero to get out alive, let alone return us back to our ignorance-is-bliss, 80s lifestyle of shopping and television?
It’s a lot of hassle and energy to make the needed changes so that people can have enough food to eat and places to live, let alone make the changes so that our earth can continue to sustain human life.
It’s tiring to engage in the same arguments day in day out about a woman’s right to choose. I did this recently, and found myself in a descending argument with a man who was over the moon that women were getting punished because…masks…and…Afghanistan.
I can’t keep having these demoralizing conversations. It hurts my heart.
A wise person might wonder if there’s a collective message for humanity to be found in the ongoing and impending catastrophes—something about creating a more sustainable way of life, or offering healthcare that’s truly accessible and trustworthy, or blah-blah-something community.
But wisdom is over-rated in a consumer-driven, WIIFM society.
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
~Albert Einstein
Yes, Einstein. I understand. Here it goes:
We all want a better world. But, we’re approaching the problem all wrong. We’re attacking it. We’re fighting. We’re opposing.
So Negative Nelly of us.
The vision board
Introducing the Vision Board, otherwise known as a Dream Board.
A Vision Board is a technique of the Law of Attraction and is a great substitute for education and tedious activism.
The Law of Attraction promises that we can create our own reality, and thus circumvent the truth of our actual reality, by focusing intently on what we want and then trusting that it will come to us just as we imagine. Maybe even better.
In other words, with a Dream Board, we can make all our dreams come true.
Here’s the gist of how the Law of Attraction can help us avoid this, and perhaps future, armageddons: Change comes by attracting change. Not by fighting for it.
See, the more we focus on what we don’t want, the more we’re manifesting what we don’t want. For example, when we chant, “No Justice, No Peace,” we will likely get no justice and no peace. What we need to do instead is focus on what we want, and let the universe do the heavy lifting from there. It’s easier than we think when we simply employ the law of physics.
The universe is the change-maker, not us
The thing about the Law of Attraction is that it understands that the universe is just sitting there, a benevolent force not unlike Santa Clause, waiting for us to ask for the world to be made better before going ahead and doing so.
It’s nearly as powerful a technique for true change as “thoughts and prayers” are for Christians after school shootings, except that the Law of Attraction works for anyone, not just a select group of people who have mastered the art of delegating the hard work of change to invisible forces in the sky.
If only Flint, MI, had stopped calling their representatives and instead cut out pictures of beautiful, flowing, clear, clean water from taps from the get-go, they wouldn’t still be dealing with this issue.
It’s hard living in a world in which some places you have to wear a mask and others you don’t. In which one day, we think we need a booster, and the next, we’re not so sure.
Who can live in this world with all its modern-day confusion, pain, and fake news? Why do we struggle for answers when we can simply visualize clarity?
Let’s get active in the most passive way possible.
Here’s how:
Buy a bunch of magazines you’ll never actually read, plus several different sizes (and colors if you’re feeling bold) of good, sturdy pieces of tagboard.
Next, think about something that bothers you in the world. For example, consider the angry, conspiracy-riddled, Jesus-loving protester who interrupted a school board meeting spewing conspiracy theories and talk about demons.
Don’t get angry. Just start snipping out pictures of people getting along, shaking hands, smiling and agreeing and enjoying each other’s company. What isn’t happening in actual school boards can now happen on your special School Vision Board.
Don’t want to take on such a huge issue right off the bat? Try making a School Lunch Board, in which you collect pictures of healthy food and glue them over the brown stuff kids are currently eating.
The Supreme Court may have ended the Eviction moratorium, but we can bring it back via a Compassionate Housing Board, featuring pictures of proud couples and families standing proudly in front of their brand-new lean-tos.
Do we want to see people of different political stripes get along again? Don’t worry about trying to make it happen in real life; that’s impossible. Instead, cut out pictures of people with their red, white, and blue Trump t-shirts and glue them ever so surreptitiously next to someone carrying a yoga mat while drinking her latte and climbing into her Prius with an Equality bumper sticker. The more we can bring these two people together on our Unity Tagboard, the more likely it will be that one day they will kiss and make up.
Most people are not yet ready to reduce meat from their diets as part of an effort to help the environment, so we can simply create a Vegetarian Board. Snip out some pictures of vegetables and create a beautiful banquet while still enjoying your burger. Six of one.
This is the easiest and most efficient way to save the day, save our planet, and, at the same time, save our handcrafted bagel with light cream cheese, packaged in paper and including a plastic knife, fork, spoon, and paper napkin.
While you’re changing the world, don’t forget to make personal goal boards as well! For example, you can make an Exercise Board where you collect pictures of people doing exercise and then sit back and wait for the universe to deliver the results.
Go ahead and do what you’ve always done, the mantra of the Law of Attraction says.
And then, after a busy few hours, you can take a break, resting back in your personally air-conditioned seat in the open-air stadium with weather so hot you could melt.
Here are a few more ideas to grease your creative wheels, and then off you go, my fellow world-changer!
Stop floods by posting pictures of calm rivers on your Gentle Rivers Board.
Stop raging forest fires from burning down people’s homes with pictures of homes and trees living happily side by side on your Coexist Board.
Slow down hurricanes with visuals of the blue-green ocean and dolphins happily jumping, no plastic caught anywhere in its fins, on your Clean Ocean Board.
In conclusion
Clean your own house, and start seeing the world cleaning up its act as if by magical thinking. But it’s not magical thinking. It’s the Law of Attraction in action.
We’re all missing this most simple of techniques where we can tap the powers of our imagination and deepest desires for a few minutes a day and then go about the rest of our day as we always have.
Go ahead and do what you’ve always done, the mantra of the Law of Attraction says. Just visualize that the polluted air you’re breathing in is crisp and clean as you put the final touches on your Clean Air Board.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/smallpox/index.html
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/connecting-fox-news-tucker-carlson-hungary-trump-ncna1276237
https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/WIIFM
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/fashion/17oprah.html
https://www.grunge.com/268182/the-truth-about-old-west-bounty-hunters/
https://www.wwdmag.com/flint-water-crisis/flint-water-crisis-7-years-later
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/22/portland-police-far-right-protest/
https://www.futurehindsight.com/episode/the-erosion-of-america-sarah-kendzior/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/us/eviction-moratorium-ends.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/09/01/texas-abortion-law-faq/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/11/six-most-corrupt-states/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/extreme-weather
https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/11/whos-confusing-guidance-masks-covid-19-epidemic/
https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/the-law-of-attraction-is-a-dangerous-delusion.html
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