Don't Stop Dreaming

Some time ago I read about the idea of creating a dreamboard. The idea is to take a pile of magazines, and to cut out any pictures which appeal to you. The important thing is not to analyse what you are doing, but to simply choose the pictures which you like the most, without stopping to ask yourself why.

My own dreamboard

This is a way of letting your subconscious tell you what it really wants, likes or is dreaming about. Once you have all your pictures, you can then stick them in any way you wish on to a large piece of paper or card, and the end result will tell you something about your innermost wishes and dreams.

The last time I did this was some time ago and I was quite surprised at the end result, because the images were very far from the life I was living at the time. The board helped me make some big decisions about my future and also led to us eventually moving to Somero, which was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

An example of one of the other dreamboards

Today I created a new dreamboard together with four others. Once they were finished we spent time looking at each of them in turn and saying what we could see in each one. It proved to be a very interesting exercise, and every board was totally different from the next one. My own board sent me the clear message that I value family and writing and preserving my Finnish roots. At the moment my own family situation is not what I would wish for, but I still hope that one day I will find myself in a loving and stable family where we are all there for each other no matter what. I don't intend to give up that dream while I am still on the planet.  

Try creating a dreamboard yourself the next time you have a couple of hours to spare - it's not something that you can do when you are under a time pressure. You may be surprised by the results, but whatever you end up with, the exercise is sure to tell you a little but more about who you are and what is important to you. Wishing you all a restful Sunday, and one which is full of dreams.  

The Search for Beautiful Things

One thing that I have learned over the past few months is that no matter how bad things feel, you can always see beautiful things around you if you can just find the energy to look for them.

Sometimes of course things can seem so overwhelming that you just want to crawl into bed and hide, but at these times it's more important then ever to go and look at what's out there. You're almost guaranteed to see the things around you in a different way.

I'm no expert when it comes to films, but I remember a scene from American Beauty, where a boy made a video of some leaves blowing around in the wind. That scene has always stuck with me because I loved the idea of finding beauty in simple things.  That is exactly what we did today.

Five of us took this challenge and went out for 15 minutes simply to "find something beautiful". We came back together and showed each other what we had found, and were amazed at how many things were out there right in front of us.

We were also blessed today with beautiful weather after all the rain this week. The sun was shining, the leaves were gold and brown and Somero looked stunning.

If you have the time today, go for a walk, wherever you are in the world and whatever the environment in which you live. I guarantee you will find some beautiful things if you just remember to look for them.  

Happy Name Day Minttu!

Today is Minttu's name day, and she decided to celebrate in style. This morning I put on a Shalamar cd (if you don't know Shalamar, they were a dance band in the 1980s..listen to the song "Night to Remember", and this is the sort of music I used to play when I first started DJing!).  Minttu loves dancing and she waved her hands in the air and danced round the house.

Then when she was getting dressed she said her first proper word "Sukka" (sock in Finnish). She said it three times so I am not imagining it.

Apologies for not having written this week, I currently have no internet connection - but hopefully this will be corrected soon. In the meantime, I wish you all a weekend full of good things, and Happy Name Day to Minttu!