Today’s meditation concludes the three lessons I received during one of my walks on our anniversary trip to Rosemary Beach, Florida .If you missed the other two and want to read them,
click here.
A small disclaimer: I’ve stolen the title for today’s meditation from a series of sermons my pastor recently delivered. And now I challenge you to join me as I dream. Our dreams are as unique as each one of us. We all need to dream and support one another as we share and honor the longings of our hearts. Okay, I’ll go first.
The sea is one of my homes and part of my soul belongs there. I know this by the sensation of coming home every time I run to greet the ocean, every time I stand before the vastness of the sea and the horizon line where heaven and earth meet. I can suddenly breathe deeper and I feel more alive and connected to every part of me. Time becomes irrelevant. I am lost and found all at once.
I’ve known this about myself for a very long time. Though I have no memory of it, perhaps my love of the ocean began when my family lived in Fort Lauderdale for a short time when I was two. Maybe that’s when the seed was planted, or maybe the sea has always been in me.
I remember as a thirteen-year old, being asked to travel to Florida as a babysitter for a family we knew from church. In addition to room and board, I was given time at the beach, with and without my babysitter responsibilities. It was a fair trade to me.
My single mom worked hard to support three kids and we couldn’t afford family vacations, but almost as soon as I could drive, I found my way back to the ocean with friends. I continue to visit as often as possible to fill the ache in my soul that only beach time can soothe.
My husband also loves the beach and I always hoped we would retire near sand. I thought we would eventually have a beach home in the islands somewhere that we could visit for months at a time, whenever desired. Instead, with new construction underway, we will have a full-time “forever” home in the woods here in Tennessee by the end of the year.
I do love the woods—the silent awe, the whisper of wind through the trees. I am blessed and very much look forward to our future home there. And yet after this recent trip to Florida, I see more than ever that the ocean is part of my DNA and I am committed to finding a way to “go home” more often.
Our recent trip was taken to celebrate our thirty-year wedding anniversary, but another intention I had was to look for ways to market my art on a permanent basis in Florida.
I brought nine paintings with me and while my hubby golfed, I spent the better part of two days visiting galleries, boutiques and design studios looking for a good fit for my abstract paintings. People buy my work in Tennessee to bring to their Florida homes, so why not make it easier for more people to have my work in their beach homes? This would give me additional reasons to visit, where my art business can pay for my beach time.
Another possible way to carry out my dream of being able to put my toes in the sand more often is through real estate. Last November, we sold a rental property in Tennessee, after owning it for twenty-two years. We anticipate a downshift in market conditions in the near future, which could enable us to buy a rental unit at the beach with the proceeds from the sale of our rental here.
Having our own place to stay would greatly help facilitate my business trips to Florida and also provide an additional source of income to fund my ocean time. But so far, everything with our construction is coming in over budget because of current market conditions, so we may decide it’s best to put all the rental money into our own home. Regardless, I am holding out hope there may be a way to have both.
Do you allow yourself to dream? Do you speak your dreams out loud? I know it can be scary to name what we really want. Even as I write this and share it with you, I feel resistant. I hear the discouraging self-talk that says, “Uh-oh, now people will know if it doesn’t happen.”
If I’m honest, I think there is also a fear that some of you might judge me or laugh at me. But if I examine that fear, I see it’s without grounds. I don’t think you’re that type of people. No, just the opposite. I believe that you knowing the desires of my heart will actually help me realize them.
We never know when speaking about our dreams, if it will land in the lap of someone who actually has the connections or encouragement that we need to carry them forward. Maybe they will feel moved to offer guidance or help? Vulnerability is often a risk worth taking.
A word of caution, however. Our dreams aren’t for everyone and it’s important to be selective when sharing them. There are people who can’t help but tell us every reason why our dream can’t or won’t happen. Most likely, someone taught them early on to keep themselves safe from dreaming and the pain of disappointment to the point that they don’t let themselves dream either.
Just today, I saw someone post on social media about an art fair they participated in over the weekend. Art shows, especially outdoors, are no joke! They require a lot of hard work and dedication, plus an entry fee to be considered. This person then bought and assembled, or rented their tent, where they displayed more than twenty paintings, plus several more in bins to sift through.
Most art fairs are for two or three days, spending all day speaking to people and manning the tent. There may be travel expenses involved to get there. It’s always a big investment of time and money. About their art sales, this person commented, “It was a little better than usual, but art shows aren’t about making money.” What? They aren’t? I can think of many other ways to spend my weekends than to go through that amount of work, without the hope of selling every piece I brought, or at
least several of them. It definitely would be a prime objective.
It is so easy to keep our deepest dreams hidden, and lie to ourselves about our intentions and actions to protect us from disappointment if things don’t go our way. I have no doubt that person truly wanted to recoup the investment and see every piece of art go to its forever home, but they couldn’t admit that to anyone, especially not themselves.
Oh friends, our thoughts and words are critical to support our dreams. If this artist keeps professing that art shows aren’t about making money, unfortunately they will continue to be right. I’ve done my share of suppressing my dreams too, but this is living small, and I say, Enough! It’s time to do what we came here to do.
Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible.”
An anonymous quote I love says, “Live like someone left the gate open.”
And Joseph Campbell said, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.”
Let yourself dream. Remove any mental handcuffs from your life and say what you really want. Remember, we are only responsible to uncover and name the "what," take the actions we can, and surrender and trust we’ll be guided to each next step. Sometimes help comes from the most unexpected places when we move out of the way.
For today, join me as I dream. Let’s set our dreams on higher things, remembering that the "how" is none of our business. Some of us may have ideas about how to bring our dreams to fruition, but don’t worry if the “how” is completely beyond your imagination. In fact, congrats! That’s the sign of a big dream indeed. An expectant heart is a treasure in itself.
