Twenty-Something Renaissance This is me growing into myself.

I pressed play on the clip of Dr. Ro's appearance on Anderson and did a double-take. "Oh goodness," I mumbled to myself, "that's the woman from my vision board." I looked at the board, one of the many ornaments on adding color and life to my cubicle, and paused a bit. "This has been a damn good year."

I was getting ready to interview Rovenia Brock for the January 2012 issue of Essence. But in that moment I had to stop and look and look at how it had all come together. At the top of 2011, I was visiting New York. I sat in Michele's Harlem digs sipping gingerbread lattes, watching The Game, and snipping away at magazine clips. It was time for a new vision board and I was going hard as a mutha. New York, world traveler, magazines, great expectations, and believe were a few of the words that made the final cut. Pictures representing great friendships, time with family, dates, love, and good health also appeared on the board. And the phrases that would be my go-tos for the entire year: "You've Got The Power" and "The most successful women don't run from change, they run toward it."

I had no clue how some of the things on my board would manifest. I didn't put Dr. Ro on my board because I was planning on meeting her. I put her on my board because I wanted to get more involved covering health and also more active with my own health. I ended up interviewing her while working as a health editor at a magazine in New York.

I told Dr. Ro about my board and I remember her saying, "That is how the universe works, but you have to be open to it."

A few weeks later, I looked at my board again and realized that I still hadn't used my passport. There were some things that just kinda happened, but there were also points were I needed to stop visualizing and just do. I hadn't saved to do it big overseas, but I figured a trip to Canada at least put it to use and I could plan a bit better next year.

This all brings me to my new vision board. While I feel like everything on my 2011 board has manifested in some way, I think of my 2012 of as complimentary. It's more like a companion board that clarifies the original vision. I was bit more open, honest, and clear with my wants, needs, and goals. I've also been writing a bit about what each image and word means to me and what steps I'm willing to take to make it happen.

One can only think that if I accomplished so much the first time around, being clear and action-oriented will mean great things in 2012.