I’ve long said that dreams are whispers from angels. They present opportunities for real growth—spiritual and otherwise. If we listen to our dreams, we can twirl our magical wands of creation to discover what those whispers are here to teach us.
In the end, the importance of a manifested dream is the potential to reveal the nature of our minds, or the nature of reality, to ourselves. This is why I see surrendering to one’s dreams as self-compassion.
Our dreams pull us towards truth, acting like a treat at the end of a long run; we enjoy the treat and in the process we get stronger and more capable. Yet “going for it” mustn’t mire us in a heaviness with a knitted brow of serious focus. Of course we need focus, but a relaxed focus. Wearing horse blinders and never enjoying the view as we run is no fun at all.
Dreams should be joyful.
Dreams should express our basic nature of wisdom and compassion.
Dreams should bring a lightness into our bodies and hearts.
Despite the joy, it takes oodles of courage and determination to launch off the rocket pad and into a dream. I enjoy watching the TV show The Voice, not so much for the music, but to witness the courage of the contestants boldly harnessing their dreams. They put themselves on the line in front of millions of viewers, showing an artistic vulnerability that deserves high respect, no matter the natural talent or lack thereof.
I am taking inspiration from those contestants’ bravery and putting myself on the line to share my dream with you. Yet, there is an irritating knocking in my brain, remembering the “wisdom” to fake it till you make it and not show weakness.
That seems highly inauthentic…and DULL.
Besides, my intention in life is to shed all layers of inauthenticity and live with unbridled enthusiasm grounded in an ever-deepening compassion. If that means I might lose confidence of some readers, I take the gamble.
So…..
My dream is to illustrate my children’s stories while being represented by a literary agent for traditional publication. And to do so in JOY and rooted in our shared COMPASS OF COMPASSION.
Unfortunately, I’m not a natural illustrator, or a trained artist. Whatever artistic skills I possess can be attributed to my mother, who surrounded me with her artistic genius, and my father, who thinks outside the box. The positive news is that I have gotten loads better with patience and practice. A LOT of practice. In future publications, I’ll show you past and current embarrassing attempts at illustration.
I’m not proclaiming that my art is ready for publication, but an agent might see it differently. From my perspective, there is still more to learn. And while I continue to hone my artistic abilities, I also reach for my other equally important dream of setting forth my novels into the world of traditional publishing. Again, with JOY and LOVING-KINDNESS, because, why do it otherwise?
For some reason, maybe because I see years ticking by with increasing speed, it seems right to declare its time to set sail towards my dream with droplets of courage. And I want to take you along.
I’m not completely sure what this means. What I’ll share and what I’ll be afraid to share is still to be determined, but I am pulled to attempt to be a published author/ illustrator and to invite you on the roller coaster ride with me.
I may fail.
I could crash and burn in front of all of you.
I could succeed, too!
Regardless, I have faith in the goodness of the journey and faith in the angels holding my hand, guiding me to something I cannot yet fathom.
With this faith, I’ve added a section to our publication called Droplets of Courage. The intention is to highlight what building courage in oneself may look like while not losing a ground of compassion. I thought if I showed you the ups and downs, the dirty and the pretty side of reaching towards a dream with a compass of compassion, it may inspire courage in you. *If you would like me to highlight your dream in a future publication I would be overjoyed to support your vision. Just hit the reply button below anytime.
We now have three main sections:
Explorations- how to find compassion in oneself in real life, beyond the feel-good sayings we stumble upon on social media, or hear in media soundbites
Meditations- spoken-word guidance to help what we know intellectually seep into our heart-centers.
Droplets of Courage- a more personal peak inside my struggles of going for a dream with a compass of compassion.
In light of announcing Droplets of Courage, I pray you will never allow age to stop you reaching for a dream. Maybe a dream is destined to be a bright firework, a momentary light exploding in the sky, or maybe it’s a long-lasting current, guiding you throughout your life. The point is, you are neither too old nor too young to listen to the angels. Let’s fly into our dreams together. If we succeed, we can rejoice. If we crash and burn, we do so with wings in our hearts. And, most importantly, we will unveil the depth of our true nature to ourselves—our unbounded compassion and our unbounded wisdom.
Thank you for being here! Any one who hits the “like” button brings droplets of light into my day!
Sending armfuls of light and love,
Renee
Droplets of Courage