Vision board

Each day, I TIVO Oprah and if she's talking about anything I think might be useful, I tune in. We always laugh at her vocal mannerisms, as in "It's DENZEL WASHINGTONNNNNN!" but I admit that she has really helped me at times gain perspective on my life and spirit. I recall once, when I was just starting out and feeling very doubtful, I happened upon a show. I don't recall what the content or guest was, but I do recall Oprah saying that no matter what, "your work is good because you are a child of God." I remember being on my way to cover a public meeting for the local daily paper--not at all inspiring--and I just really needed to hear that maybe what I was doing meant something. Now that I look back, those meetings were integral to my journalistic training. I wrote the articles as the meetings went on, which taught me to condense on the fly. An important skill, no matter what you're writing.

Anyway, Oprah's been doing a lot on the "law of attraction," as in if you think it, you can make it come true. She and her guests recommend doing what they call a "Vision Board," in which you build a collage of the things you'd like to see manifest in your life. Considering that I am at a bit of a professional crossroads, I decided to make one. I pasted the name of the magazine I am currently freelancing for, along with a column from my current editor. I put a picture of the pyramids, a room that Clif Inc. provides to its employees for pumping milk (I want to work with/for organizations that promote breastfeeding), the NPR logo (I have no idea how you break into radio, but it's some of the best writing out there). There is a lot of blank space, but it seems like some of the vision board is already coming true.

Within 12 hours, I received an e-mail from my editor that is a highlight of my professional life so far, more meaningful than some of the national awards I've received because it has come at a time when I have had so many questions and doubts. In it, he complimented the profile I wrote (my first assignment since I had Charlotte) in such concrete, detailed terms that I have no choice but to just drink it in and know I am doing the right thing.

Oprah says that when you focus on the things you would like to see happen in your life, the universe rises up to meet you. It just seems so odd that just as I started to really picture that this, yes, this, is the kind of work I want to do, from here on out, for this kind of editor, said editor would return the same shout out. Just about right away, I started to riffle through the mastheads of such publications as Vanity Fair and Outside Magazine, magazines I admire, and who knows what kind of great yarns I could spin their way?

If you're reading this and wondering what you're going to do, I recommend getting a slice of cardboard and a magazine. Start cutting and pasting the images that call out to you. You just never know what flowers will bloom around your feet.