Now, don't get me wrong, I love, love, love the stuff of a good vision board... BUT: A vision board isn't magic either...
Bothered by some of the inconsistent promises I felt were implied with a creation of a vision board, I decided to confront these head on in a 3 part painting series.
This addresses probably the heaviest of the 3 situations I chose to paint... Suicide - and hope in a vision board to solve serious mental illness and depression.
News alert - It can't.
Mental illness should be addressed internally in the mind and heart. Not externally on cardboard.
Some lighter issues can be solved with calm, but brutally honest introspection, a really great self-help type of book by a credible source, or better connection to family/friends (yes animals can even help, too!).
But with deeper depression, hurts and pains, we may need the help of professionals. And I applaud those who acknowledge they need help (I have in my past too!).
(Sometimes we might need medication, too. And that is A-OK.)
Let's definitely dream big! But if you're experiencing great pain or sadness in the heart stuff, let's maybe put a mental health professional, our family, or a book on our vision board, instead of states of consciousness that a vision board just can't grant. And let's do the work to find our peace.
Cheers!
©Ashley Autrey, A Lost Hope. Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 x1.5 inches
