why your vision is your power
🗺️ a continuation of my writings on world-building.
🌸 this a new series on forming a vision.
I’ve been thinking about why the word “VISION” feels so absolutely essential to me — in that I feel so strongly about it that I’d list it as my top 3 most important words for my life. (as in: without a vision, or many visions, I’m not sure I could live in this world without slowly shriveling from nihilist boredom, creative paralysis, and existential despair).
A vision is a portal to the future
What is a vision?
A vision, by definition, is your mind’s imagination of a desired future. it’s a mental wormhole that connects you to your future — of any, or all parts of your life — a project, a business, a creative pursuit, a relationship — projected and played out inside your mind’s theatre. it’s then your job to make that vision real in the physical, material world.
Vision is about seeing beyond
even when the word “vision” has been overused by corporations and startups, if we focus on the original word, vision is about seeing. vision is the act of seeing something that others can’t (and then, convincing them to suspend their disbelief, and see it with you). this is somewhat mystical, clairvoyant, and otherworldly. it requires an immense amount of self-belief, conviction, and intuitive connection to the subtle, energetic world.
Vision requires manifesting energy into reality
“I had a vision last night in my dreams…”
okay, I’ve heard this before. if you want to manifest and materialize anything in the world, vision is the most crucial ingredient, and, without commitment, vision is only a daydream. the most prolific, “accomplished” (whatever that means to you) people in this world couldn’t have started anything without first having a vision. a vision is most important ingredient no. 1.
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a vision is: your deepest desire, with purpose, creativity, and tactical strategy
let me explain WHY vision is the most important ingredient no. 1, by explaining how it’s an integration of everything — the soft, intuitive, dreamy and creative side, with the practical, action-oriented, tactical side. this is a breakdown of the visual above.
THE MIND & TACTICAL
GOALS = your ambitions, desired outcomes, measurable, specific targets
PLANS = your tactical action step to achieving goals
THE CREATIVE PSYCHE
DREAMS = your innermost longings, fantasies and desires for the future
the problemIDEAS = your fertile, creative possibilities
THE SOUL/SPIRIT
MISSION = your sense of purpose, ethos, values, and meaning
that is:
if you only have dreams without tangible materialization, they’ll only stay fantasies in your head.
if you only chase the next exciting creative idea, you might feel creatively and energetically scattered.
if you only have mission (without creative inspiration, desired dreams of the future, or the tactical), your purpose has no weight, power, or movement in the world.
if you only chase goals and plans, you might get stuck in a loop of overwhelm, paralysis, and never-enough.
A vision make your goals feel potent and purposeful
once, while programmed into the rat race of productivity obsession, I was caught up in the relentless, exhausting pursuit of big goals. I wanted external, measurable outcomes that I could measure, hold up to the sky (or, in a corner of my mind, to my Chinese parents) and say “look, I did enough today.” “I am enough.”
sometimes, goals can be really exciting. other times, having a goal comes with the feeling of needing to prove yourself — to someone. that’s because goals belong to the material, outcome focused world. goals are measurable, tangible, objective oriented. goals are SMART. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, blah blah blah)
okay, but what if SMART is not enough? what if I want to be MORE than SMART?
what if, after you achieve your SMART goals, you keep wanting to make more SMART goals — (to prove to yourself that you’re SMART enough?) where does it end? how do you stop yourself from constantly moving the goal post, from never being enough, from never having done enough?
personally, I’ve been guilty of setting ambitious goals, avoiding/resisting them, then berating myself when I didn’t reach them. it took me a long time to realize that goals — as external outcomes, by themselves, don’t motivate me.
For me, goals are essential for getting things done, but goals aren’t enough unless they’re created in context of a vision.
Goals are your milestones, your sign posts, your flag at the top of the mountain. But your vision is your compass on a muddy, uncertain path — your fire in a jar — so that even if you change mountains (or universes), you’ll never be cold, confused, and lost.
A vision gives you power and direction
in other words, your vision is everything — combined. it is the distilled, most potent expression of your desire, your values, your creativity, your willpower.
A vision is born from the cosmic, psychic soup of your deepest desires, your decade-long daydreams, your tingling, creative impulses, your mission, purpose, and fire — all that which gives you meaning in this life.
May you choose the visions that matter most to you, and allow them to guide you forwards.
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PS. where this comes from; why vision matters to me.
since many years ago, when I first started building this website-world, I discovered that part of MY vision — in a parallel journey with being an artist — is to nurture the individual creative spirit; to help the journey of others.
I want to help people clarify, tend to, and materialize their visions. The way I do this is through teaching about world-building, and sharing the creative process.
Why? I believe in the power of following your truth — I believe in a world with infinite creative diversity, where the individual spirit can free themselves from our cultural conditioning (brainwashing). I believe in following individual intuition, the spirit, the soul, and the creative life force — as the most honorable thing we can do in this short time we’re on earth.