Product Description

A truly visionary book based on the popular workshops of a highly acclaimed art therapist, designer, and pioneer in personal growth through creativity.

In Visioning, Lucia Capacchione, the author of such self-help classics as Recovery of Your Inner Child and The Power of Your Other Hand, shows us that we can transform our lives in the same way that a designer transforms raw materials to meet his or her vision. Drawing on her experiences as a designer and corporate consultant, Capacchione uses the artistic principles she acquired from mentors Charles Eames and Walt Disney to teach readers how to apply a blueprint to their individual lives that will help them to realize personal goals and dreams. Complete with easy-to-follow and playful hands-on art activities and techniques, Visioning sparks "the designer within" and makes real the notion that if you can dream it, you can do it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #111166 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-28
• Released on: 2000-12-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This how-to manual for "manifesting your heart's desire" will no doubt prompt memories of kindergarten collage-making for many readers. Based on her observations of engineers, architects and designers (including toy and theme park creators), Capacchione offers a framework for shepherding an idea into reality, whether the goal is to create a company mission statement, improve one's health or build a dream home. An art therapist, corporate consultant and the author of 10 books (The Creative Journal, etc.), she instructs readers on choosing a theme, gathering images and words that "grab" one's attention, finding order in the chaos, committing one's vision to paper and glue, getting feedback from others, dwelling on one's vision, getting help to implement the plan and celebrating the final result. With a tone that's both playful and serious, Capacchione provides detailed instructions and numerous exercises for working through this process. She also encourages journal writing (using both hands to engage both sides of the brain) and addresses common internal and external obstacles. Even if some of the numerous samples and stories culled from her workshops come across as a bit schematic and glib, Capacchione provides a fun and empowering approach to creativity for those willing to roll up their sleeves and play in the rich field of their desires. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Lucia Capacchione, Ph.D., A.T.R., is an art therapist, artist, author, popular workshop leader, and corporate consultant.

Customer Reviews

Not as impressed as I was with her Creative Journal book
This is simply coming across as a rehash of what she has discussed in prior book called The Creative Journal. This is more focused on creating a collage, and I quickly lost interest. I'd rather deal with more writing and drawing exercises, that's just me.

Where There Is Vision, The People Prosper
There is a line in the Bible that says something to the effect of, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." I'm sorry to say that I do not have a reference for this quote and one day, I will find it and update this review to support it, but the bottom line is that when we don't have a vision for our life, something within us dies. And that's exactly how it is. When we forget our hopes, our dreams, and our wishes and just give into the everyday world, we are forgetting who and what we are and what we are here to be, do, and have.

Maybe I am just being naive here, but I really think and feel that everyone of us that are living here today are entitled to live great and empowered lives. Henry David Thoreau once stated that most of us live lives of quiet desperation...why? Why do we fall prey to desperation? I believe it is because most of us do not have a vision for our lives. I believe it's because most of us are operating on unconscious beliefs that limit us, that keep us down, that keep us thinking and feeling and acting in ways that are limiting and small.

For a moment, let us just think and feel what the world would be like if every one of us on this earth had a magnificent vision for their lives; if everyone of us followed the dictates of our heart and soul; if everyone of us were filled to overflowing with Love, Compassion, Peace, and Acceptance. This world would be entirely different than it is now. There wouldn't be greed or hunger or lonliness. Poverty, saddness, and unfulfillment would be things of the past. Everyone would be helping everyone to better their lives. Nobody would be competing with one another because competition would be done away with; being creative would be the order of the day. Being and feeling prosperous would be part of the "New World Order" and there definitely would be a New World if everyone had a vision of brilliance and magnificence.

Ghandi said, "Be the change you would like to see in the world." How do you become "the change". You become the change by opening your mind, your heart, and your soul to a greater vision. You allow yourself to sit still, to become centered, to breathe deeply in...and to breathe deeply out...you clear away any doubt, any fear, any uncertainty and you OPEN YOURSELF to LIFE, to LIGHT, to LOVE and you let the wisdom that is within you and around you now freely, and easily, and gracefully pour forth and then you ask with humility, with childlike wonder and excitement, "What is my vision?" And you let the Divine Wisdom that is Present present you with a vision.

Yeah, it may be sketchy at first, but just keep opening yourself to Spirit...just keep asking the question, "What is my vision?" And I promise you, it will be given to you. Then, allow yourself to leaf through magazines and periodicals and newspapers and with childlike glee and joy, cut out words, phrases, and pictures that match your inner vision. In other words, bring life to your vision NOW.

Do not be swayed into thinking that it's silly or stupid or foolish. We tend to see in pictures, anyway, so you have to choose what pictures you desire to follow. Do you want to follow the old images that lead to poverty, despair, and saddness or do you want to follow a new vision that promises you abundance, fulfillment, and success?

I firmly believe that what we truly desire ALSO desires us; that the things we want to express, extend, and experience want us to express, extend, and experience them. Let us believe in our visions, in our dreams, and our desires. Let us support one another in becoming all we can become. Let us honor the divine in everyone and everything.

This is a great book and what is even greater is that on some level you already know this is true. Consider this your lucky day, your "sign" to a greater life.

May you be the person that Spirit already envisions you as!

Peace and Blessings...
John P. Morgan

wonderful tool for accessing our inner visions
I have bought at least ten copies of this book in the five years since I first encountered it. I often end up giving away my only copy and then having to buy it again. It is just the thing for finding your way. The process is marvelously mapped out and easy to follow. I suggest resisting the impulse to skip any steps - the things you don't want to do are likely the very ones you will find most productive. Oh how we do tend to resist change, even as it is the very thing we claim to seek! LOL.

When I turned 40, I realized that the directions I had thought my life should go in were just no longer satisfying to me, and I needed a real change. But I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Working on this project gave my life an entirely new sense of direction, and I am still following the trajectories that my first efforts brought home to me. My life is like a dream come true... I just can't say it any other way. My journey continues to unfold, but I feel a much greater sense of purpose and pleasure than before.

I really recommend this for many purposes - once you understand these techniques, you can put them to use them over and over again for a variety of problem solving situations. I just can't say enough about this book. I also recommend The Creative Journal.