Why you need to throw a vision board party immediately

Vision boards – those collages of daily reminders to achieve a life you envision for yourself – have been around for so long, it’s hard to know when they even started. But like many things that start on paper, vision boards went digital with apps like Pinterest and carefully curated Tumblrs.

Now, old-school – if you can call it that – glue-and-poster vision boards are making a roaring comeback. And this time, it’s a group effort, with vision board parties popping up seemingly every week in Detroit.

Experts say electronic boards lack authenticity, creativity and are, ultimately, less effective. The upcoming months are full of vision board parties and Jeannine Gant, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit, says the following is on the agenda – food, wine, hundreds of magazines, glue, scissors and decorating with good company.

Gant says when she attended her first vision board party, which she found on Facebook, it was a spiritual experience that gave her a sense of sincerity. 

“An opportunity to individually and collectively think about who and what we each wanted to bring to our lives-honestly, it was like magic. I felt like I lived my best life last year and those words were on my board…‘live my best life.’ I was turning 50 and I wanted no more regrets,” she says.

Call it part of a overall trend toward women-centric group activity that draws from the imagination – think painting parties at Painting With a Twist, drawing parties or “toasts” to accomplishments. All communal, all creative.

While planning her upcoming vision board party on Jan. 28, Doria Barnes, founder of Beautiful Elegant Lovely Ladies Achieving, a mentorship organization with a focus on leadership, says she is focusing on tangible goals.

“I am very excited for vision boards to make a comeback,” she says. “I am glad we [African-American women] see the importance of not only creating New Year's resolutions and truly attempting to stick with our goals, but also creating a visual,” Barnes says.

The 33-year-old says she felt compelled to host a workshop because she has seen an outcry for it on social media.

“I realized many women of color are trekking through life alone without support from a mentor or concrete goals. I believe creating a space for networking, intergeneration relationship building and talent discovery can be the catalyst to change.”  

Almost anything can be pinned up, but the hosts say to keep it realistic and achievable.

Tresa Galloway, owner of Exquisite Affairs by Tresa, started learning about vision boards as a teenager when she called it treasure mapping. With the proper steps, she says a board can materialize. Her first vision board that she took seriously was during her senior year of high school, where she set out to get good grades, a new car, a friendly roommate and, ultimately, to travel abroad.

Galloway’s last vision board party had more than 100 women in attendance.

“It is a visual treat into the life you want to live,” says Galloway, who hosted another vision board party on Saturday. “If you see it, believe it and speak it, it will manifest.”

Gant split her board up into sections, specifically home, health, love, wealth and an overall life perspective. “I found the best stuff in O Magazine,” she says.

On her board, she included the word “travel” with a passport, and says soon she was sitting under a full moon on a beach, reflecting on turning 50 years old.

“I traveled every single month last year, from L.A. to New Mexico, Cancun, Spain, Florida…I have never traveled so much in one year,” Gant says. “I put a sexy picture of Rihanna's butt on my board and I have a little more work to do on that one. I guess the board just gives you a chance to create a vision for yourself, to put it in the universe and then dare to believe it can really happen.”

Gant says that creating new vision boards does not have to be annual. It can be as often as needed, when passions are redirected or when new ones emerge.

“I haven’t fulfilled everything on my board, so I don’t feel the need to do a new one just yet.”

Searching for a vision board party? It’s as easy as searching “vision board party” on Facebook. Just include your city, such as “Detroit vision board party,” and get even closer to your goals.