Tips For Maximum Dream-Boarding

A (tiny) primer for manifesting nuts like me, plus a fresh playlist to get things moving & grooving in the right direction.

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My dream board is like a living diary…or probably more like a living To Do list. In a way, it’s even better than my real journal because, at any moment when I need to get my head in a better space, feel focused, or just AWAKE…all I have to do is look up from my computer, and it’s right there—in all its non-digital, tactile glory.

I’m not sure if it’s the ritual of dream-boarding or the actual images that matters to me more, but collecting and choosing them for myself or someone I care about is sort of a love language for me. Anywhere I’ve ever spent time, be it a new office, hotel room (yes, I’ve done this in Paris!), or a closet door I used frequently, I would immediately piece together a patchwork of images. It’s a ritual that instantly orients me, like a compass, and makes me feel more at home—in my space, in myself, and (likely) in the person I’m becoming. So, it’s not the least bit surprising that when we first renovated our tiny apartment, one of the most important things for me was to have a whole wall of cork over my desk so I could pin and tape to my heart’s content. It may sound silly, but I sincerely believe dream/mood/vision boards (whatever you want to call them) have power. Because they’re not only an active record of what you love and connect with, but they help you build what’s to come, too…framing it out, like an actual blueprint.

Which is why I spend all year, every day really, collecting beautiful, strange, special bits and bobs. Random scavenged things that, pasted and pinned together, transform into this magical fortune cookie that feeds me a little inspiration every morning. I can glance at my board or in my folder and see a sweet drawing, sticker, quote, or a photo when I was happy (and my jawline was, too!), and then I can get on with my day. Maybe that sounds silly or basic, but I think it's honest, and that’s what a dream board is—the truth. It’s what we love and yearn for and dream about in our truest hearts but are maybe a little embarrassed to say out loud…with words or to another person, for fear it sounds insane or lofty.

But whatever…fuck it! I’m here to remind you (and me, too), that a timely pastiche of cool things collected for present and future dream-weaving never, ever fails to get you back on track…or set you on a totally new one. While I’m no expert when it comes to dream-boarding (thrifting and closet organizing…maybe:), all I can tell you is that I love it, deeply, like some people love knitting or chopping wood or watching Emily in Paris, and it’s one of those things I know I will do forever. Because I know from experience with actual images that came to be in real life…that it WORKS.