Taking on Faceless Burgers, Shawn Warden and Dreams

Somebody is aways challenging me, most of the time it is Mike or the kids, they challenge me to make creative suppers and get Saturday's BBQ off of their favourite white t-shirt. They challenge my memory, my knowledge of nothing and yes even my patience on occasion. I challenge myself a lot too but it is very unusual to be handed a challenge by someone outside of the DNA network. My friend Shawn Warden stepped into the ring yesterday to challenge me. My challenge... to incorporate Shawn Warden and faceless burgers into a random blog post....piece of cake (I hope!)

...and GO!

Most everything that crosses my path ends up re-used, recycled, handed down or trashed. I am not one to 'hold on' to things, I don't see the point. All those things just take up space where new things can go. I like new things. Having said this you should know there is a baggy filled with bread clips in my junk drawer and I have one area of extreme horderness...magazines! They are everywhere in our home, the bathroom, bedroom, livingroom, kitchen, laundry room, closets, cupboards, baskets, boxes, bins and drawers. I have so many even the dog is disgusted and eats them whenever he gets an opportunity. Most of them I have not read, some of them are still in the plastic sleeve (move over first edition comic book collectors) A few have earned their way onto the bookshelf because they are so used and loved. New ones come every month and I add them to the pile. I know, I have a problem.

*gulp* the tip of the iceburg

Fortunately I have friends with solutions!

Enter my good friend Patti, preparing for a team building/personal development workshop at her home this week. "I need some magazines" she said. "I have those!" I said (thank you universe for addressing my shame). With a tear in my eye I packed up my magazines and followed half the stash over to Patti's house. The magazines and some really great people were in for a new outlook on life. Twenty of us hacked those glossy pages apart in a exercise of building Dream Panels. We covered brightly coloured bristol board with images and words of all the things we would have if we could have anything. Which by the way, you can. It really is as easy as knowing what you want and letting the world be aware of your desires.

We don't have a problem going to a restaurant and telling the waiter exactly what we want and expecting that exact thing to end up in front of us. We don't have a problem telling the master of the BBQ that we prefer faceless burgers. The waiter wants you to be happy he brings what you want, the grill master wants you to be happy and reserves you a spot on the grill for your vegetarian option. All you had to do was ask.

I loved watching everyone putting their desires out there for the world to see. We have done this at home with our family a few times over the years, it's always exciting. Some people don't even know what they want before they get started, some people know what they want but don't know how to articulate it. We spend after all, a great deal of our lives believing that we should not ask for things, that we might not deserve everything we desire...nothing could be further from the truth. With great things you can do great things!

The truth is this; 'We are all deserving of fulfilling our desires, we all have the power to make dreams come true.' This is also true; 'the dream you have the power to make come true will not be your own, most people spend  their lives being the catalyst that fulfills another's dream, whether you know you have or not.'

My friend Shawn Warden can tell you that our lives invade the lives of others. It can't be helped, somebody's faceless burger is going to drip on your face-burger. The results could be a great combination!

Gratitude today for the help to purge my habit, the opportunity to see other people's dreams out in the open, and the excitement of seeing who's dream I might play a part in. Even if that dream is just to see your name mentioned alongside the phrase 'faceless burgers'

(which by the way wasn't really a challenge; I once used Mike, Mickey Rourke and Nano in the same sentance...THAT, was a challenge! ;)

Gratitude, Hope and Smile are meant to be shared,
Michelle

Put it Back

I have not been able to write for just about 10 days now. Not because I don't want to, not because I don't have things to write about but because I can't. I have the time I have the inspiration but I do not have the ability. I am what you might commonly refer to as blocked. Blocked by frustration, annoyance and fear over the following thought...

Is it possible for a family to support more than one person's dream at a time?

If a dream requires all out effort, time, attention and devotion to be realized, is it possible for you to devote yourself entirely to achieving it. If someone else's dream requires your support, guidance, and help is it possible to give those things away without jeopardizing your own desires?

In a family how  do you decide who gets to dream. I am the very first one to say "We all Do... Dreams for EVERYBODY!" but it's just not true is it? I mean we all get to have our dreams but we don't all get to live them do we? It would be a pretty crazy world if we all ended up using all of our minutes striving towards our goals, I for one would be over-joyed to wander in a sea of ridiculously happy people all living "the life" whatever that life might be to them.

As parents we work hard to make this a reality for our kids. If they want to play hockey we do the driving, tie the skates, sit in the stands and cheer. If they want to be artists we buy the paints and pastels, blocks of sketch paper and easels. The child who wants to be fashion forward or a model gets the clothes, the shoes, the attention to make that possible. We do this for our kids without a second thought or an ounce of bitterness because one of our dreams is to see all of there's come true.

Along the way however each of us providers carries our own very personal dreams. Dreams that are big, dreams that would require attention and time and effort, dreams that would require the support and help and guidance of others. Dreams that end up on shelves. Not because we don't want to nurture them but because doing so only halfway is painful, disappointing and emotional.

We have a saying in our home "All in or Nothing" it means for us that at any given time we are giving 120% to the moment and the events there in. Anything less that 'all in' achieves very little. You can't make cookies with half the ingredients, you can't achieve success in school by only doing half of your homework. Laundry that only gets washed might be clean but it's not wearable. To give less than your all produces disappointing results.

This is what prompts us to put things on the shelf to wait for their time.

So the kids get their dreams. Parents make sure of that or they make sure the kids are dreaming dreams that fit in with their own program. That would be the easy way, one main dreamer in the house charting the course for the rest of the family and toting them along for the ride.

I can't do that, I want to see everyone realise a dream born of their own passions. I am the supporter of dreams, that's my job and I love it.

Gratitude today that I can take my own big dreams down from time, that they get to see periods of sunshine. It keeps them fresh for the day when they can have all of  my attention. I just wish today that it was easier to put them back on the shelf.

Gratitude, Hope and Smiles are meant to be shared. That would help me achieve my dream if you would pass that thought around.

Michelle


one last thought to share...

If you are the person with the freedom to indulge your big dream with 120% of your effort and does it with the support of great people around you... don't you dare sit back and do nothing with that privilege. Seize it, embrace it, make the very most of it. Chances are that a lot of other people are putting their dreams on simmer to make that possible.

Dreaming the Hotdog Dream

The time has arrived in our world for Lula and KJ to begin selecting their courses for the next year in high school. I never panic too much about the process, I let them choose whatever they want basicly. I know that's not how you are suppose to do it. I understand that you are suppose to work with them to develop a post secondary strategy and then guide them in selecting the courses that will get them to their goal. I understand that is how the good honor roll, ivy league parents get the job done. I also don't care.

When E-man was little (or littler than he is now) he had one desire. He wanted to be a hotdog. Not the guy showing off on the basketball court or the hockey rink, or a guy who makes hotdogs, not even a guy dressed up as hot dog. He wanted to be an actual hotdog. A real live, lips and arsehole tube steak on a good old fashioned enriched white roll with ketchup. It was hilarious! In his defence he was not quite three years old and being a hotdog was as plausible as being a princess, a juggler at the circus or a mermaid. We got such a kick out of it we used to use him like a party trick... “Grandma, ask E what he wants to be when he grows up.” For 6 months anytime someone asked his answer was 'A Hotdog' there was no wavering. Something else that never wavered was the reaction. “That's silly, you can't be a hotdog!”

At first E was adamant that 'yes he could so be a Hotdog' he would argue and defend his dream. By the end of his 6 month hotdog dream he was answering with 'I know.' Looking back it kind of breaks my heart, he didn't know he couldn't be a hotdog, not until everybody told him it wasn't possible, not until everyone told him that his dream was silly. Eventually he wanted to be a policeman like every other little boy.

We do this, in the name of securing good futures for our kids, we rob them of their dreams or rather opportunities to dream every day. We tell them what they should be pursuing, guide them away from pursuits that seem pointless, fruitless and time wasting. We redirect them and tell them them when they want to be a hotdog that their dream is silly and not achievable.

How on earth do you discover that you have a passion to climb a mountain if no one ever lets you wander in the foothills with a rope and a carabiner?

High school is an amazing opportunity to try everything and anything on. Where else can you be a chef in the morning, an account executive before lunch and an auto mechanic in the afternoon. I have one rule when it comes to picking courses. Pick whatever you want, as long as you go, as long as you give it your all. It's your life, your choices, your future. If I steer your ship, you may never discover the land that excites your passion. There will always be time to reroute, pick up the courses you need and re-chart your course. They may very well be in high school for 8 years, I get that. I also get that is so much easier than waking up each and everyday heading into your job as a pharmacist wishing you were a hotdog.

Gratitude today for the freedom to dream.

"Dream, all things are possible for those who believe"

Michelle

Living the Dream

Some believe in dreams, I believe in those who dream.

I've been pretty busy lately...

I've been sitting in freezing arenas at ungodly hours and standing around bon fires in ungodly temperatures. Last week I was standing in the middle of the road while Michael weaved around on his motorcycle. Yesterday I was standing in my friend's kitchen congratulating her hard work and success. I've been washing favourite shirts and driving around the world. I smell like dog and bad air freshener. I've been baking cookies, writing stories, listening and talking, asking questions and looking for answers. My house is a mess. My van needs to be cleaned, my floors need to be mopped.

and my dreams are coming true. I get to encourage people to reach for thier joy, I get to help, I get to tell people that they can. I get to wipe tears and hand out high-fives. I get to celebrate and hold the rope. I get to see success and pride up close.

Gratitude today for everyone who stands behind me in my dreams. The people who know that nothing brings me more joy than encouraging others to be grateful, joyful and in full pursuit of their passion all the time.