Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life - Charles Dederich

That just about sums up how I feel this morning!  Day One of Big Dreams Small Wonders and I'm feeling really fired up!  Isn't it a great feeling, when you give yourself permission to do something, make the time and then actually do it?  As you are all probably tired of hearing I have this craft fair coming up and I set myself the goal of producing two bags per day until Easter.  As usual there are days when I procrastinate and I don't meet this target, then I give myself a hard time, which usually results in getting even less done the next day because I decide the answer is to give myself a break (literally) and not be so hard on myself!  Good technique eh?  Tried and Tested!
However I won a place on this course, and that to me is a HUGE opportunity and not one to be wasted.  so this morning I got up at 6 am with Lovely Man (he went off to work at 6.30) and allowed myself until 8 am to check in with BDSW, do the coursework and blog.  I now have fifteen minutes left and I have completed what I set out to do.  Oh and how good does that feel?  Blimmin' Great!
So here are my notes for Week One, Day One.  Setting the scene as it were and my overall intentions.

Four years ago I had a dream to emigrate from the UK to Canada. I wanted to live in a small community way out of the city and most importantly I wanted to write that book I’d always wanted to write, to follow my passion for art and craft and to be able to make enough money that I wouldn’t have to work for someone else five days a week.  I’m half way there in that I got to Canada, to the small community way up in Northern Ontario.  Now it is time to bring the second half of the dream to fruition and that is where I am struggling.  Partly due to lack of confidence and fear, I find that I am putting things off, being half hearted and generally being ‘fluffy’!

By joining this course I hope to be able to share my fears, gain insight and support from others and also to offer support and encouragement to others based on my experiences thus far.  By the end of the six weeks I would like to feel as determined, confident and focused as I did when it all started four years ago.

I expect from myself commitment first and foremost, to schedule in time everyday to check in and work through the course, and to banish any avoidance ‘techniques’ that I am so skilled at practicing!  From myself and from everyone, kindness and honesty.

My overall intention throughout the course is to believe in myself again and to at least give my dream my very best shot whilst I have this chance.

So there we are!  I have put it out there!  It is in the Universe, and in Blogland, so no going back now!
And so now I have ten minutes left to hop over to Facebook and check in with my FB friends before showering and then it's off to my trusty sewing machine.  When the allotted two bags are complete I will pamper myself with the treat of preparing the front and back cover of my journal for this course and set up a little corner where I can sit quietly and meditate each day, a practice that I used to uphold but has sadly fallen by the wayside of late!  Have a great day everyone... and follow your dreams wherever they take you today!

Just one mixed up crazy kid?

Well I kinda couldn't sleep - again!  So after about an hour of trying to lie still and not wake Lovely Man I got up in the dark, fumbled for my fetching pink velour lounge suit and slippers,  and crept off to the kitchen to put the kettle on!  It wasn't till I got to the lounge and started to actually put on what I'd grabbed off the bedroom floor that I realised I had actually picked up odd slippers (I have 3 pairs).  so picture if you will a slighty over weight, forty something (nearly 50!) woman, with bed hair, wearing a ghastly pink velour 'lounge' suit (it keeps me warm ok?!) one white furry boot and one grey and white stripe slipper with a zebra's head on it!  You notice this post doesn't have a picture right? That's because this morning I want you to use your imagination!

So anyhow I sat here thinking about life, like I do from time to time.  I started to write my book the other day.  The one I want to write about Angels and the Laws of the Universe.  And well, I got to thinking about stuff.  Roughly 10 years ago I was at a very dark time in my life and although it often felt like nothing was ever going to change there was a part of me that used to dream.  Daydream that is.  I used to imagine being with someone who I REALLY loved and who loved me back.  I used to imagine living a life in the country, painting and crafting and generally being happy.  And then that's all it was.  Daydreaming.  Or was it?

Almost out of nowhere I seemed to get myself by the bootstraps and haul myself out of the bad time.  I had lots of help along the way.  Some of the help didn't seem kindly at the time, but looking back everything that happened had to happen to get me where I am now.  Where I needed to be.  Where I dreamed about being.

So here I am in a new country living on the edge of the wilderness, painting and crafting.  Writing and getting paid for it - still can't believe that one!  I have a man who makes me just SO happy - Lovely Man- and it's a million times better than I ever dreamed of! I dreamed of an English country cottage with roses in the garden, that evolved to living near a lake in Canada.  I dreamed of not having to go out to work but instead work at home.  We both dreamed of living in a small community, and playing a part in it, being able to do stuff we didn't seem to have time for before.  And OH BOY just look what we got!  A house, on the edge of the bush - literally - in a small, close community, with three lakes!  A town where everyone knows everyone, where people like to stop and chat.  A place where we can get involved because we have the time.  As for there being 'nothing to do' in a small northern town, nothing could be further from the truth! We have had more invitations to functions and events in one week than we'd have in a year back home! The whole community has more going on in a small place than we seemed to hear about in the larger towns we came from! There's even a dog pound and a cat rescue in town where I have been able to volunteer to help out - that was in my plan too!

And as I started to write this post I wondered.  Is it just because I was brave enough, or mad enough, to try?  Did I just get carried along? Or was it just meant to be?  Did I just attract it into my life because I used to focus on it so hard?  See? Just one mixed up crazy kid!

And then I remembered.  One night, about six years ago, at church I got a message from my uncle, who is in spirit, he said that I should be patient and trust, and that one day things would be better than I had ever dared dream of.  At the time I just accepted it and hoped he was right, and then as time went on I held on to that message, trusting it to be true. 

So to all my blogging friends, and non blogging friends too, I say don't be afraid to dream. In fact dream a little harder and more often.  You may be surprised one day. As one of my new friends, Kassie, would say "Always expect miracles".