I facilitated the Vision Board activity with coworkers. We work at a sexual assault response center and oftentimes as advocates don’t have much time to slow down and focus inward. I had participants express “I always feel guilty when doing stuff like this, like I should be doing client work” and other messages of guilt for taking a break. I reassured them that this was dedicated work time where their only duty was to relax and create as they wished. 

Participants ended up really enjoying the activity and worked and chatted past the allotted time, playing their own music and passing magazines and supplies back and forth. They each took a unique and creative approach to the prompt, and although they all identified a range of comfort/experience creating in this manner, everyone said they really enjoyed the activity and opportunity to create art. 

One participant said they “never do stuff like this” and yet by the end proudly proclaimed that they wanted to frame their collage. This activity had a great effect not only on the sense of camaraderie and joy in the office but also allowed each participant to creatively explore something that interested them – many by the end stated that they hadn’t created a vision board so much as a piece of art, a poem, or “something else.”