Guest post by artist, podcaster and teacher, Jamie Ridler
What if your dreams weren’t on some distant horizon but rather your best companion, living in your heart, ready to be of service and to help you right now?
Meet Your Dream
So often we are only able to recognize our dream in its full-blown incarnation. It’s the published book, the trip to Paris, the credit at the end of the film. And we suffer so much in feeling removed from our dream. The more distance between us and the dream’s realization, the more despondent and discouraged we can be.
But know this: that little voice in your heart that says, “Write” and “Go” and “Create” is your dream.
And it’s living in your heart right now.
Make Friends with Your Dream
So get to know that yearning inside. Notice its tone, its energy, what wakes it up and what puts it to sleep. Sidle up close and make friends with your dream by simply paying attention. Slowly you can start to feed it too, little bites at a time, with colored pencils and gathered treasures, a trip to the art gallery or the dance floor, whatever your dream is hungry for.
As you care for your dream in these early stages, you’ll start to notice it begins to grow. You might even discover that it has a name like “Me, the Dancer” or “My First Photo Exhibit” or “My Own Business”. Let yourself call it by name, that way s/he will recognize when you’re talking to him/her.
Let Your Dream Be Your Guide
As your communication grows, you’ll discover that your dream can give you all sorts of signals about what it needs next to grow, whether that’s space or challenge or gentleness or company. All you have to do is listen.
Listen to Your Dream
One way to do that is through Intuitive journaling. Begin with addressing your dream directly and then go ahead and ask questions. Try asking in one colour and letting your dream respond in another.
“Hello, my beautiful book. What are you needing from me today?”
“You know, I’m feeling really confused about why Drusilla is in the story. Could we spend some time with her today?“
“Absolutely. Is there anything else I can do to support your growth?”
“I think we need to get out more. Maybe if we worked in a coffee shop this week we could get some ideas, see some people, hear some words. I just feel like I need to be more connected to the rhythm of people, you know?”
“I love that idea. I’m super busy this week but how about we go on Monday?”
“Okay, that sounds good. But don’t forget about Drusilla!”
“You’ve got it!”
Take Action in Following your Dream
And here’s the thing. You have to actually do something about what your dream tells you. I mean, think about how you would feel if someone asked what you needed and then didn’t respond! You’d lose trust big time. The more you don’t follow up on what your dream tells you, the smaller and quieter your dream will become.
But what if your dream asks you to do something you’re afraid to do? Tell your dream that too. Have a conversation. You are in this together!
“Hey, beautiful book, I totally hear that what you need next is for me to figure out how to approach a publisher. I find that really scary so it might take me a while. Any suggestions on what might make it easier?”
“I know it’s scary, especially talking with people! Why don’t we start with doing some online research? I bet lots of people have written about how to approach a publisher. Let’s get grounded in some info and that will give us a place to start. Sound good?”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“Okay, but remember, getting to a publisher is where we’re headed. We can do it. I know you’re scared. Me, too. But I promise to believe in you if you promise to believe in me.”
“Deal.”
Enjoy the Adventure
Take time to enjoy each day with your dream. Remember when you were a kid and you read stories about heroes and little girls and birds that went on adventures? Almost all the best bits of a story happen before they slay the dragon, get back home or find their mother! It’s the same with our dreams. Take the time to enjoy each discovery, each friend made, each challenge overcome, each skill learned, each landscape explored.
Following our dreams is the adventure of our lives. Don’t miss a single minute.
Connect with Jamie on her website or Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
One More Thing..,
Does your heart long to roam? Find new adventures? Maybe even go on a Pilgrimage?
Evans Bowen’s new book, Pilgrimage: A Modern Seeker’s Guide, speaks to those who crave spiritual travel and soul-seeking adventures.
“A pilgrimage creates a sacred space where your physical body and heart can meet and meld into one. As the sacred space opens more light shines in and new vistas, ideas, languages, and experiences bring you to a new place in your life you could never imagine before.”
A tradition of all religions, Pilgrimage is a journey to sacred sites as an act of devotion and dedication. It is time to expand the definition of Pilgrimage to inform modern life. Taking time to visit a place near home or around the globe, to open the mind and heart to the Divine, brings healing and new meaning to life. Pilgrimage is both an external journey to a place longed for and an internal journey to the center of our most authentic self.
Each part of the journey, from the first desire to visit a holy place, to the return home to integrate the experience, becomes the pilgrimage to expand our world, both body and soul. Combining practical steps for the physical journey and 40 days of inspiration for the spirit, this guidebook gives this time-honored journey to the Divine to inform the whole person in our increasingly fragmented world.
Click here to view deeper details on this beautiful new book.
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