Day 45/366 days Towards Self-Mastery. Mood: mellow.
The freedom of having completed my initial nursing training with the realisation that I could work almost anywhere was fuel for dreaming up a life of adventure.
Somewhere along the way I cottoned onto the idea that life was about experiences, and I am grateful that I started to dream up rich and colourful adventures.
Ambitious to explore abroad, immerse myself in my cultures of origin and experience the world around me, I filled my time and emptied my bank account on wonderful and exciting excursions, learning new skills and finding expression for my talents.
However, as this challenge is about leaning into self-mastery and I'm all about supporting you and my clients in emotional and mental health and well-being, I'm going to be honest and say that for the first 25 years of my life, there were no dreams.
Let's not be too tragic about it, but I do want to acknowledge those who did not have the opportunity for dreaming in their earlier years. In my mind there's a picture of children dreaming of adventures of dancing and acting, perhaps performing in the arts, or maybe exploring uncharted waters or hidden valleys, with parents who support and encourage their imaginations. This of course could be complete fantasy.
That's not how it was for me. My greatest dream as a youngster was for someone to put their arm around me and tell me it would all work out.
So, in case you didn't start to dream until you were much older, I see you.
Sarah's inspiration for today is about connecting with those dreams
Many of those precious dreams we'll find buried under a raft of disappointments, failed attempts, stupid mistakes, bad timing, bitter rejections, and acts of fate. We need courage to look at them again. To find the gold there. To see if there's a wisp of enthusiasm, motivation, energy amongst the rubble of exhaustion and defeat.
Go within and revisit your very old dreams. The ones that seem dashed, forgotten. Rekindle your interest there. It takes great love and courage to excavate those dreams and bring them into the daylight.
Today I gave myself time to dream anew. To be perfectly honest I couldn't find an unrealised dream.
With a commitment to find a life of joy I left no dream stone unturned.
Learning my father's mother tongue whilst living in Italy, immersing myself in Italian cooking classes, spending time with distant relatives and walking the paths of my ancestors under the active volcano, Etna, taught me about that side of my family.
Travelling through the ancient world, following the footsteps of biblical characters consolidated my interests in archeological sites.
Sailing on, swimming in, scuba explorations of many reefs and drop offs, walking along some of the worlds most famous waterways, consolidating my navigation studies on the bridge of an enormous ship as we sailed from port to port satisfied my need to be immersed in the oceans of the world.
And so much more...
As a driven and energetic individual, my career and business goals were realised.
My new dreams are about standing still. They are about belonging to my community. To being of service right here at home. To being known for who I am, warts and all. To know I'm not everyone's cup of tea and that's okay.
To hang out with my gorgeous animal, Tabasca, make friends with the local wildlife, connect with the trees and be responsive to my garden. These are my current dreams.
To complete my Masters, contribute something of value with my Literature Review and maybe inspire some change to how emotionally intelligence the workplace is.
And what delights me most about this dream is to no longer dream of faraway shores, of unrequited love, of lost connections and those that failed and were never meant to be anything more than what they are.
To be satisfied with life as it is. To lean into the warmth and comfort of the love that I can bring to my patch. No regrets.
What about you? Are you able to give your dreams wings?
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.