Fly-over Childhood
I grew up in the Midwest as the eldest daughter in a Catholic family of eight.
Living in a home with seven other people was interesting. Many times I would seek solace in the bedroom I shared with my sister, Jeanne. I’d just lounge out on my twin bed and read a thick novel like “Gone With the Wind” or “Exodus.” I learned to highly value my privacy and alone time. I wasn’t very social in high school. People may have thought I was stuck-up, but I was just shy.
Throughout my high school years, I fomented a plan to go to California, my idealized destination away from Michigan, where I felt like I didn’t belong. After my second year of college at Michigan State University, I “pulled the trigger.” I jumped into a drive-away truck with a college acquaintance I barely knew, and headed west towards my dreams of becoming a writer and living by the sea. Which is exactly what I am doing at this very moment.
Making Your Dreams Come True
The most difficult part of making a dream come true is not conceiving it but taking action to make it happen. How do you make a dream come true? One step at a time.
After you have successfully brought some dreams to fruition, you have built up a track record of success, and become more confident about conjuring up bigger and more elaborate dreams.
So start small. Maybe you have a dream of hosting a party at your home and engaging in fun activities. Decide on several dates that could work, and contact your friends to see if they can join you at your party. Ask them to bring a dish to share, and you can provide beverages and cannabis. You can play games, listen to music, have a Karaoke sing-along, the sky’s the limit. As party host, you can observe how your dream brought so much happiness to the people you love.
Bucket List
What’s on your Bucket List? This term was recently made famous via a movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson as two terminally-ill, cantankerous men who set out to cross items off their wish list of things to do in life before they “kick the bucket.”
But why should you wait until you are old and ailing before you deploy your travel dreams? Always wanted to see Rome? Athens? Barcelona? Buenos Aires? The North Pole? Set some time aside on your calendar. Make sure it’s the best season to visit without too many other tourists around and then buy your airline tickets. It’s fun to shop for items that you may need in a new and exciting terrain. For instance, you may need a down jacket for Iceland. Or a rain jacket for Patagonia. You might need a plug adaptor for your devices. Sunscreen and mosquito repellant for hiking in the Amazon. As you gather your items for your journey, and the day draws nearer, your anticipation grows and your dream is under way.
Leap of Faith
After you’ve tucked a few small dreams-come-true under your belt, you can build up to the bigger dreams that require a leap of faith. You can create a career, meet your soulmate, invest in a home at a destination where you have wanted to live. All of these dreams are within reach. It is your choice to take the leap of faith. And by faith, I mean faith in yourself. Not some entity outside of yourself, but your inner voice. Always trust that, for it is the source of your dreams, and the engine that makes your dreams come true.
BE LOVE NOW,
Patty & Mark