Right Brain Thinking in a Left Brain World

January Marin Chapter Meeting of NAWBO

I was invited by my friend Donna Perreault to assist her in making a presentation for the December breakfast meeting of the National Association of Women Business Owners (Marin County Chapter). Donna's topic was to have the attendees look at what they had each accomplished in their business and personal lives in 2010, and then establish what they wanted to achieve in 2011.

Cali of Serendipity PEM Sharing Her 2011 Goals and Dreams

She gave the women specific questions to think about and to answer, and then they were given the choice of writing down their answers or illustrating them with pictures pulled from magazines, and then sharing. I spoke about my jewelry business and the Collage Cafe workshops, and then showed the women some simple collage and art techniques and provided supplies for them to illustrate their ideas. In essence each woman was making a mini "vision board." Scissors, glue, ink pads, colored pens, and magic dust (glitter) flew around the table; creativity bloomed in the room and the women seemed to enjoy using the art supplies and images to illustrate their goals.

Donna's Illustrated 2011 Goals and Dreams

From my perspective as one of the facilitators, adding the visual component seemed to "bring to life" the women's ideas, goals, and dreams. It also made for a very lively meeting. On a personal level, I found Donna's exercise very illuminating. I did it the night before in preparation for the meeting. It took away the dry, anxiety-producing left-brain aspect of setting business goals, and opened a door for future creative exploration of my business goals.