With a name like mine...

Of course I couldn't let this week pass me by without joining in the fun.

I'm not sure if a lot of people realize where the drEEm in @dreemsteem comes from, but, it's from my YA fantasy trilogy. In the saga, the reader is introduced to a girl who can manipulate energy into any form she likes, and can even "dreem" herself into an alternate universe. The main character is based on me, and if anyone read my CNF from last week, maybe you can see why it was necessary for me to create different worlds inside my head and turn them into reality.

There were chapters of my life that were difficult, but there were entire sagas that were beautiful and magical and dreem-come-trues! I learned how important it is to be a victor instead of a victim, and decided to choose that narrative for my feature-length film, starring me!

One of the recurring daydrEEms in my life is one where I own a massive plot of land that is divided into smaller plots for cabins with little trails that lead to friends' homes, and community gardens and gazebos and pools. I'm sure that this concept has been heavily influenced by a huge portion of my life dedicated to working and living at rural camps. Being able to wake up and walk to a friend's cabin, or head together to the lake, or skip arm-in-arm to breakfast gave me a genuine appreciation for living in close proximity to people I love. Close community is so important to me.

Over the years, I've probably allowed some drEEms become too fantastical - at least for professing publicly. I've learned that it's ok to drEEm as wild as you want, but only share the more tangible, realistic drEEms to the public. Most people are willing to suspend reality for a little while, but many prefer to have both feet planted firmly on the ground. I really can't blame them, because drEEm-building is very exhausting work. It takes a lot of stamina, ingenuity, creativity, and conviction to continue to strive for things that seem impossible to achieve.

One of the critical keys that I've discovered through my lifetime is to surround yourself with a good balance of dreemers and realists. Too many on one side or the other will cause an extreme tilt: either you start to doubt the validity of every and any idea, or you believe that anything is possible and potentially make reckless decisions that lead to hazardous results.

While I continue to construct my secret, long-term dreems, I've found that I also need short-term bursts of mini-dreems realized! Every year since 2017, I've met up with online friends - from San Diego, to Colorado, to upstate NY, to almost NZ (darn you Covid!), to central California, to UK - and next, to a Pacific Coastal tour!

It always starts out with just a wish - a mere hope.

Then, casting the dreem out on the water and seeing if there are any nibbles.

This next trip has just begun the planning stage, and it's already filled with excitement and joy and anticipation and the thing that gets me most excited - the countdown!

No matter how much we plan for it - there are always points where we have to just take a leap of faith and hope that we can work out the details on the fly! One of the most powerful tools that I think every dreemer needs to have is the faith that if we just keep taking steps forward, it will all work out exactly how it was supposed to - and more often than not, it's a lot better than we ever expected!

I so hope that in the next few years, my bigger, more outrageous dreems will be realized! But until then, I'm happy to keep enjoying the mini dreems, strung together like cotton candy pillows on a marshmallow string - sweet, decadent, wispy and fun!