The Smoke Signal

To be honest, I really didn’t know what a vision board was coming into the challenge, and I do not know how to create one. This might not be the best way to start this challenge, right? Oh well, I guess I can learn though. I’m usually terrible at keeping my New Years goals and resolutions, and I’m definitely the least artistically gifted here, hands down, but I’m confident that I can watch YouTube videos to aid myself. What I do have is my dignity though, and I cannot let that down by creating an awful board. I’m hoping this will motivate me to create a board that is at least on-par with the rest of my fellow writers.

I’ve never made a vision board. Ever. I don’t even make New Year’s resolutions. But considering the disastrous year that 2020 has been, it might be a good idea to start off 2021 on a promising note and make some goals for myself. To prepare, I will scour the depths of Pinterest, and hopefully, Pinterest’s selection of vision boards will spark some inspiration. After all, it can’t be that hard to think of ways I can improve myself after the year we’ve been through. If not for the actual content, at least I can count on my art skills for the aesthetics. It’s just like making a collage, right?

Oftentimes, people assume I’m good at all kinds of art just because I dance, but unfortunately that’s not true whatsoever. That’s why I’m probably going to create my vision board virtually to save your eyes from being disturbed by my pathetic drawing skills. After all, it’s just putting a bunch of pictures together, so how hard can it be? On the bright side, I’ve always been good at setting short-term goals, so I hope this vision board helps me create realistic goals for 2021 as well. After an eventful 2020, I definitely want my vision board to reflect a positive mindset that looks aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

Although I’ve never made a vision board, I am more than prepared for this moment. Watching Youtubers create their own boards combined with my alarmingly high screen time on Pinterest will serve me well in this journey. I’ll definitely try to make it aesthetic (because who wants to look at an ugly vision board) but I’ll still try to think of some realistic goals to set for myself. I’m probably going to make a virtual vision board because I won’t have to waste toner printing out the Pinterest photos and I won’t have to clean up all the paper scraps afterwards. Win-win.

After countless clicks to random websites online made by stay-at-home moms and teenage YouTubers, I finally figured out what a vision board is, while I was creating mine. Overall, I’m extremely proud of what I was able to create from cardboard, printer paper, and toner I had on hand at my house. However, I’m glad I was also able to admire my fellow Smokies’ vision boards, as I can clearly see the aesthetics and effort that they put in. In a way, I used my lackluster artistic skills to put together something proficient, at least for my own standards. Hey, I think I even put more effort into this than towards studying for my math tests. Hopefully I can keep these goals in mind for this year!

Thanks to the creative minds on Pinterest and Google Images, I would say I’m really happy with how my vision board turned out. I found the process of browsing for images online and organizing them into a creative collage therapeutic. Combined with the continuous copy-and-pasting and the music playing in the background (“drivers license” by Olivia Rodrigo), this served as a great distraction from the stress of school. Now that it’s complete, I can’t promise I will stick to these goals until December, but it sure was fun to organize my goals in a vision board so pleasing to the eye.

After skimming through hours of YouTube videos on how to use Adobe Illustrator and switching between numerous tabs of Google Images and clipart, I would consider my vision board satisfactory (thanks largely to copy and paste). While creating this vision board, I realized that many of my goals have been influenced by the pandemic. At first, being at home made it feel like a lot of these goals were impossible, but I was able to use this as an opportunity to alter my goals accordingly. I will definitely hang this vision board above my messy desk to keep me motivated throughout 2021.

Surprisingly, this project was a great way to unwind. I spent about half an hour listening to The Weeknd and arranging photos on Canva in an aesthetic manner. Although, now that I’m looking at all four vision boards side-by-side, mine does appear slightly mundane. Nonetheless, I’m still proud of myself for the blood, sweat, and tears I put into this vision board also known as Air-Dropping photos from my phone to my laptop. Now that it’s finished, will I print it out and tape it on my wall? Probably not, but I do think it will be a nice reminder for me to stick to my goals.