the dreaming Press.

Do what you love!

Bees buzzed about and hung heavily on purple thistle nearby as if watching me and what I was up to photographing this treasured shell and picture of my late Grandfather. The day was humid and I was out walking with my journals and my camera and wanted to get this shot in the wood near my house before it was time to head back home. I had done all of the tasks required of my day so I was sneaking in some fun before I had to pick up my children.

I'm sure my ideal day would be just like this; walking around shooting film or digital with just nature and a good mood for company. I've been thinking a lot about how I spend my time. I would love to be more wise when it comes to the how I spend it. So I'm pursuing my love. Photography. Hence I stuck my neck out recently while out for dinner at a beautiful and delicious new local restaurant...met a fabulous lady who was looking for a photographer to shoot an evening event and I took the chance and offered my services and now...

...I've been chosen along with another photographer to shoot a local event and this is causing me some anxiety. As you all know, I shoot for fun. This event in September however, is a real job. With expectations attached to it. {Yikes.}

I will put my heart and soul and passion into it, but there is a little voice inside my head already that is saying, They've hired a professional. What do you think YOU are doing? Do you think you are qualified to do this? Are you like, freakin' nuts or something? Ah I do so wish that little voice would be quiet. Have you ever attempted something bigger than you think you can handle? If so, how did you do it without completely losing faith in yourself? Do share, as I can use all the encouragement you can spare please. I know I'm not the only self taught photographer out there. Am I?

I'm taking the chance. You never know unless you take the chance. Wish me luck! xo {I'll share some of my work here with you when the time comes...}

darkness yields it's own fruition

The other night I had a lucid and vivid dream. My eldest daughter and I were hiking through Amman...not through the bustling streets or city centers but in the hills. And there were trees. So many towering trees.

In fact, it was a forest that did not exist really in Amman. But such was my dream. I was photographing the trees with her; they were immense. Some over 400 feet high. I recall being spoken to by some unseen voice, a voice that wanted to know why exactly I thought it was okay for this forest to be cut down. I couldn't put into words why I felt that, I only knew that it would be okay.

My opinions were met with disdain, I was scolded. Chastised. Made fun of for my views. {I didn't let it faze me. Really. I kept doing what I was doing. The opinions of others met with my immunity. Such a lovely, empowering feeling.}

I kept hiking until I discovered I had lost my camera equipment. Including my iPhone, which is also, by the way, a camera of it's own right.

We kept up our search for the cameras while we hiked through these trees. Looking up gave us vertigo...the trees were so overwhelming. Then there was some immediate danger. The trees were going to be cut down and we were right in the middle of it all. I told Olivia not to worry; that to have faith that all would work out fine. We'd be safe, that much I knew.

A short while later we then discovered lush and fertile crops were growing right where the trees had been cut down; and in numerous stacks the trees were tied together in neat little bundles.

The unseen voice returned. It told me I had been right all along. It also told me to look in my purse. I opened it up to see my camera equipment had been there the entire time.

***

I pondered this dream for days. I consulted the oracle. Then I consulted my best friend who gave me the perfect interpretation. She was 100% correct. I'll sum up her analysis by telling you this:

I believe in myself. I've had people who would disagree with the way I do things. They talk, they snicker. They think what they want to think...it's their drama. I don't deal with other people's drama well, I never have. I like to worry about what I'm doing. So that said, initially the overwhelmment I felt resulted in me doubting my abilities. Doubting myself. A darkness came over me in the form of fear. Ridicule. Anxiety. And yet...by sticking to what I believed in, a fruitfulness ensued. A ripe time of fruition was available to me. I was, for lack of a better word-"proven" right.

So naysayers, excuse me while I go harvest my crops. I'm not searching anymore. I've got all I need. It's (the light, & it's) been with me all along.

xoxo

p.s. The same is true of YOU. Stick to what you know. Believe in what your heart tells you is right. And you too will yield abundance from the seeds you have planted. YOU WILL. Have faith.

Cast a Happy spell~*

 
Mossy terrarium in my window sill.  Rainy Saturday.

1. Starting to sew!

2. This is so worth watching, simply beautiful if you love period costume & a riveting story.

3. Would you think a series of commercials could be so soul stirring?

 

Sunday is a favourite day amongst my family, friends {and heck even my foes} I'm sure of it.  So let's carpe diem. 

Whip up a delicious feast!

Get out for a fifteen minute power walk. 

Sit and read two chapters. 

Tidy up just one corner of your home that has irritated you lately...perhaps like me it is underneath the vanity in your bathroom?

Then boldly go where no man has gone before, which is confidently in the direction YOUR particular feet are taking you today.  Captain your ship!

xoxo

Living future nostalgias, a lesson from the boy who wears odd socks.

What do you truly savour about your life?

Could it be your career? Friends? Travel? Food? Sleeping in? Loved ones? Ice cream??? {For me, tiger tail on a sugar cone. Plain and simple.  There will never be another flavour invented in the Universe to me, that comes close to rivaling tiger tail.}

Are you focused on any one particular thing, or do you invite in a synchronized swimming chorus of singing prose to help you backstroke amidst the rivers of colour delivered up faithfully to you each day? Do you sway to the tidal rhythms of your ashes to ashes existence? Do you obey your intuition regardless of what your brain tells you are potential hazards? {Remember the brain is bullshit and the tummy is truth...listen to your tummy, easy peasy lemon squeezy.} Are your nights lit by a loving moon full of promise holding dreams? Are you fully embracing your ideas without shooing them away because you are strong and wise and don't let obstacles get in your way because you don't even entertain the idea of an obstacle?

Then I say good for you!  Keep savouring, keep reaping what you sow, and may the karma of what you share come back to you a thousand fold.

Not that I'm suggesting life is without sorrows, in fact sometimes quite the opposite.  I think so much about the colour of life lately and how it has desaturated for some important people in my life.  I am not suggesting we all walk around in a "rosy glasses"-induced fog, but could we strive to savour the nows that are so generously dealt to us?  My friends who hurt remind me every day to embrace the ones I love, for just loving them and being present when they need me is such a tremendous gift that I am so amazed at the wonders it can do for them.  In fact being present is the greatest gift you can give that allows you to reap all the benefits too. 

And guess what? That is all we can do.  (Our best.) That is it.  Be present.

Live your future nostalgia's. The boy who introduced me to the concept is a world traveler, a teacher, and a lover of photography, art, life, and last but most certainly not least a lover of great music.   We can all learn from him, right?  Be available with your full attention wherever you are.  Easy.  Simple.  We have to live in this imperfect world but we can do wonders for our happiness level if we focus on the things and people that bring us joy.  The rest isn't up to us, only our choices and our reactions are.

So, enjoy your ice cream and stop bitching about your neighbour.  You are wasting your time and you are likely making yourself ill. Instead, I beg of you to attack your life like the greatest challenge that has ever been issued, and float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. (Need a visual? Get in the ring with life.  Lace up your gloves and start to dance....POW.  Deliver a punch.  Then keep delivering punches while dancing...claim your title. Ahhh, good match at the end of the road.  You'll be able to bow and thank your opponent.  Once he wakes from his knock out that is...)

Be free, be generous. Eat more ice cream. Get busy making nostalgic things happen.

xo

Encouragement. With a smile :)

I love encouragement.  I thrived on it as a child. In fact, it got me through many a day.   I see my children needing it, craving it.  I see people around me who need a boost. Feel down? Feel at the end of your rope? You are only human. Let's put things into perspective though. For a moment. Imagine, you were born into a different life. Nick was. A much different life than you and I are familiar with.   I want to share this man's story with you, it came to me courtesy of one of my friends...Danielle {the wise, the beautiful, the great...}. Thank you Danielle! :) Never give up! xo