This being the beginning of the year, it's the perfect time to take a New Age step and envision your ideal 2009, and the perfect person to share it with. And the best way to do that, according to the power-of-attraction gurus behind The Secret and various bloggers with a lot of time on their hands, is by constructing a vision board.

 

A vision board is, basically, a physical manifestation of your dreams or a visual and verbal articulation of goals. The principle is simple: by figuring out what you want most in life, and then focusing daily on your goals, you can reprogram your brain. Instead of thinking of, say, a cranberry-pecan muffin first thing in the morning, you'll look up at your vision board, gaze upon a picture of some magazine model's rippling abs, and reach for that apple instead.

 

Martha Beck, appearing on the Oprah show, said she sees two reasons the vision board works. One is something called "selective attention."

 

"If you repeat the word, 'blue, blue, blue,' and you start looking around the room, all the blue things will start popping out." The other reason is, uhm, quantum physics.

 

"We know now, scientifically, that consciousness brings matter into being where there was energy," said Beck. "So it's not even necessarily that it draws it toward you. The conclusion is you're literally creating some of this stuff."

 

An O Magazine columnist's expertise on quantum physics notwithstanding, maybe there is something to this vision-board thing. At least, it doesn't cost anything to make -- although that hasn't stopped a few people, like The Secret's John Assaraf, from trying to make money off the idea (with his Complete Vision Board Kit).

 

For your dating vision board, start by collecting a stack of magazines, catalogues or any other visual aids that stir your imagination. Don't limit yourself to what you have lying around the living room, though, or your board, like ours, might be full of nothing but pictures of the female cast members from Battlestar Galactica. You want to stay focused, but not that focused.

 

Once you have your stack, cut out the pictures that most appeal to you, while keeping in mind the type of person you want to attract. Knowing the gender of your ideal partner is a good start, as is a ballpark age. And if you're fundamentalist Mormon, before starting the project you might also want to figure out the number of life partners you want.

 

Then start asking yourself more specific questions. Is she a blonde, brunette or redhead? Is he tall, short, with a full head of hair and a soul patch, or does he have a tattoo of praying hands on his bald skull? Does she have her own business, or does her job involve a pole? Does he front one of the world's most successful rock bands, or is he currently in a maximum security institution?

 

Getting more detailed, blogger Sherrie Hay suggests listing the four qualities your perfect mate must have, along with four qualities that would be the icing on the wedding cake. To that end, find pictures of people who embody those attributes highest on your list.