highly sensitive power

In certain self-actualization circles, vision boards have been all the rage for a while, and stories abound documenting their effectiveness. Take or leave the hype, but the concept can be tailored to whatever suits. For instance, for my own pleasure and delight, I started a series of collages a while back that depict, in detail, places in which I’d like to live, interiors and exteriors of homes I’d love to occupy. I refer to them as Homing Collages. They’re just for me, and I invest so much devotion and longing and exploration into them that by the time I put one into a clip frame and hang it on my wall, it’s so familiar that gazing at it is like going home.

I started out making these collages as visions to relax into, rather than as vision boards (I didn’t know what a vision board was when I started making them). Nevertheless, the bedroom in our home bears a striking resemblance to a Homing Collage made years ago called Red Study, a warm environment of golden wood, shades of red, and exotic accents.

Lately, when I need a calming respite, I’ll stand in front of the Playtime Homing Collage which depicts a golden room filled with slanting light, board games waiting to be started, other rooms beckoning just beyond sight, and a fat puppy sloshed into a stuffed chair, sleeping. I’ll stand there for ten minutes, occupying that room in my imagination, and after a while I’ll feel my breath slow and my shoulders relax.

Whether you explore this idea as a vision board or as an easy way to trigger joy and relaxation, the process itself is fun. You’ll need magazines (old copies can often be found in thrift stores or at library sales, or even at the hair salon when they’re finished with the current batch), a glue stick (Uhu is the brand I often use) or the heavenly Rollataq hand applicator (scroll down to see it), a backing board, and scissors and/or an X-acto knife (after years and years of making collages, I find that a good, sharp pair of scissors cuts me through even the most intricate extractions). If you use an X-acto knife, a self-healing cutting mat can also be a boon – they’re often available at art stores (as are Rollataq applicators).

I tend to begin with music I love on the stereo and a stack of magazines, which I browse through, tearing out any elements that attract me (firmly bypassing my mental editor), then starting in with the cutting after I have a sense of a theme. The bigger background areas can be glued into place first, allowing the furniture and embellishments to be fitted more easily. Have fun. If you try it, I’d love to know how it goes.

Collage by Grace Kerina: Paradise Bedroom Homing Collage.