10 Things I Dream About Regularly

What's life if not injected with dreams? Dreams are the stuff that hope is made of. Dreams inspire us to work harder to achieve a goal. Dreams put smiles on our faces. If you listed out the first ten dreams that entered your mind, what would they be? How would they relate to your true self and how you are living it today? If there is a disconnect, what can you do about it?

Here is a list of my recurring dreams and how they relate to my current state of being:

1) BICYCLE RIDES: I'm a fan of the bike ride. I'll take a bike anywhere I can. I'll ride around islands. I'll ride solo--or with friends. I'll take a trail to some place I've never been. I'll ride fast. I'll slow down. There's just something about the ride that feeds my soul. In the photo above, I had ridden about a quarter of the way around Peaks Island off Portland, Maine and had stopped when I spotted a park bench beside the yacht club. I rode the bike up the road and watched the view in front of me for about a half hour before moving on. Talk about dream state! This was it for me. But I don't just dream about riding, I do ride as regularly as I can.

2) WATER SCENES: Perhaps because I'm a Pisces I love the ocean. But I confess, I'm not a fan of actually getting in the water ocean. I have a few unrealistic fears that surface when I try that. Still, I love to watch it, smell it and listen to it. I can sit for hours on the beach, daydreaming. I can do as I did above and sit on a park bench to watch a water scene unfold before me. I can listen to waves crashing against rocks on the sand all night long. In fact, I can remember one night on the Jersey Shore where I rented a penthouse suite just to have the perfect view of the ocean...The minute I stepped into the suite and spied the huge windows facing the ocean, I pushed open the windows all the way and closed my eyes just so I could do nothing more than listen to the sound. I listened to that surf all night long. I think it was probably the most peaceful sleep I've ever had in my life. Water calms me, and I dream of living on the coast of Maine frequently. I can even picture where my cottage would be. It's a dream I full expect to see come true some day.

3) PUBLIC SPEAKING: This may be the number one fear of most people, but it's not a fear of mine. All my life I've had a vivid image of me standing at the lectern speaking to large sold-out crowds. I don't know for sure what I'm saying, but I know it's well-received. This dream won't leave me, and I'm forever searching for the right words to say. I've been practicing, and I think my blog became an extension of that. When I find the right words, the exact message that only I can share, you'll hear about it.

4) BIG FAMILY GATHERINGS: I dream of spending more time with my children and their children. I don't get to see them all enough--together--and I dream of the days when I can help make that happen. 

5) BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS: I've written one book, contributed to a few others, and that has fueled my desire to author more. I have several book ideas in mind and expect to get a contract in 2012 for the next one. I like the idea of the long-form project. They allow me to get deeply involved. So I dream of that next book project a lot. I'm working on several outlines now in order to determine which would be the most promising to present to an agent or editor.

6) A HOUSE REDESIGN: I love my home, but I also like change, and this one's in need of it. I dream often of a remodel where I open up the living area of my home, add built-in table that can fold up. I dream of adding more color to my walls and buying more art--or painting it myself--to fill empty spaces on the walls. I dream of having time to arrange photographs on the stairwell walls, using the frames I already have. I dream of pulling out the carpet to add new flooring. I want all tile--saltillo, because I like the color, texture and Old Worlde feel of it. And I dream of having a garden with layers and layers of flowers and colors of all sizes and textures and scents.

7) TIME TO READ: I dream of having more time to read all the books I have on my shelves. For this, I may have to cut out my night time TV time. I generally watch TV to put myself to bed, but it's also generally unproductive TV. Not too long ago, I went for a year and a half without any kind of television programming at all--not even the news--and I found myself reading more. I dream of doing that again. But the only reason I did this before was because I'd accidentally pushed a button on my remote that shut down my TV. It only took figuring out which button that was to push again, but I didn't care enough to figure it out. My son-in-law did, and that was that. I had TV again. It was fun when it first came back on. But now I just see what a waste of time TV can be. Only, I'm not that disciplined to turn it off myself. It will take another accident to get me to break the habit. Either that, or maybe now that I've written this down, I will see for myself that I can stand to make that change, because I do dream of having more time to read. I don't need to dream that one, as I already have it, if I so choose.

8) MORE DISCIPLINE: Speaking of "if I so choose," I dream of being more disciplined at certain things I do in life. I can choose that. I really can.

9) SUCCESS: I dream of having more success than I do. Some of this may require more discipline, more reading, and more rides. Seriously. I also need to lighten up on myself sometimes. Don't we all? 

10) ENOUGH: I dream of feeling as if "I am enough," just as Brene Brown asks us to believe in her TED talk my therapist recommended I watch last week. Great stuff if you're interested.  

By writing these out, I can look and see what needs inner or outer attention. Are you brave enough to write out your list of dreams and be honest with why you are or are not working to achieve them? If you write out your list of ten, let us know what that did for you.