As I sit in my office, looking out at the picturesque San Francisco Bay, I am reflecting on how I got here from my Washington DC home - sixteen years ago. Of course, I had to do all the usual stuff like secure work, research home prices, and pack. But what I most remember was that first moment of discovery as I sat on the floor on that cold winter D.C. day, with National Geographic magazines, tearing out anything that caught my fancy. The pictures were all watery; dogs swimming, waves crashing, a beautiful mermaid, and lovely ocean scenes - all of the west coast’s rugged coastline variety. The collage’s message was clear. My soul hungered for the west coast, the land of my childhood.

With our first treasure map clue in place, my husband and I took the first exploratory step. We booked a spring vacation to the California coast, fell helplessly in love with Sausalito, and the rest was history. Over the next two years we created a plan to transfer our work and make a home in California. The journey was not always smooth and straightforward, yet the collage was a treasure map and our move from D.C. to Sausalito, by way of Sacramento, has turned out to be a gold mine of riches!

Most of us strain our brains trying to “figure out” what we would like to do/be next in our lives. We research on the Internet, at the library, and ask others’ opinions - searching for answers outside ourselves. The trouble with this, often left-brain research, is that it may not speak our soul’s language. Our souls talk in creative metaphor-dreams, music, and pictures. Collage is a wonderfully quick and simple way to access our soul’s desires.

Collage (Wikipedia: from the French, coller, to stick) is regarded as a work of visual arts made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. This technique made its first appearance in the early 20th century as a groundbreaking novelty and Pablo Picasso was one of the first to introduce collage into the fine art world in 1909.

I often ask my clients to put together a collage as part of their “visioning”. I particularly love National Geographics or magazines without lots of ads or stories depicting how we should live or what we should buy. Go to any thrift shop and you will usually find loads of cheap National Geographics. Grab a handful of magazines, scissors, poster board, and a glue stick. Tear, cut, and glue to your heart’s content.

Now, really look at your collage. It is your treasure map. Immediately, get your journal out and write about whatever messages your collage holds. You can ask others what they see, for you, in your collage. Write it all down and sit with it for a few days. Take the “tingle” test - noticing what excites you; that’s where your first clues are. Follow them and, above all, enjoy the treasure hunt!