This episode of ‘The Well’ tackles a subject that I’m very passionate about; Mapping out your dream life.
It’s a space that anyone no matter where you come from, what you believe in, your socio-economic status, race, cultural beliefs or social circle can lean into. Everyone has a dream, we all have an imagination, we all have ideas, hopes and desires. Most things we see started with an idea, focused attention on a dream.
I look at my husband Mark's life, he grew up in the most impoverished neighbourhood in Philly, he lived in abandoned houses, slept in cars with his teenage mother but it was his dreaming, his hoping, his wishing for a change in his circumstances that he believes helped to pull him out of the experiences that he was born in to. He had a dream and it was to be in films!
He lived his life like it had already happened. He talks about looking up to the stars at night and sitting in the feeling of what it would be like for that dream to be his reality. Whether it was an ask and the universe responded situation, whether it was because it instilled enough motivation in him to make every step forward be about achieving his goal or perhaps it was fate if you believe in such things but his life looks just how he envisioned and that has made a profound impact on him.
Someone drops the word ‘manifesting’ and it’s often met with an eye roll, passed off as a New Agey privileged persons belief system, I too have been on the receiving end of such judgement when I’ve discussed it publicly and navigated my own levels of skepticism over the years surrounding the practice. However I liken the idea of manifesting or intention setting as akin to prayer. My devoted catholic mother believes when she prays to her Heavenly Father that he hears her prayers and miracles occur. I just have a different name for it and instead of asking for something from someone who exists outside of myself I turn inwards and utilise my own innate ability to imagine a reality that I so desire. To me, dream setting, intention focus and goal oriented positive thinking can at the very least help keep me on track to reaching those places of desire.
Many believe that when your subconscious and conscious mind collides you inevitably make small tweaks and changes to your behaviour and choices leading you down your desired path. Others sign up to the notion that every thought has an energy attached to it and when we are vibrating from a low energy headspace that’s the kind of energy we attract in to our life and when we are vibrating at a higher (more positive) frequency we welcome the more exciting things in to our life.
Long before it found its way into the laps of spiritual seekers “The Law of Attraction” concept had been circulating for hundreds of years. This belief system has long thought to originate back to philosopher, spiritual teacher and mentalist Phineas Quimbly.
His 19th century works quote him as saying;
“Every idea is matter, so of course it contains life in the name of something that can be changed. Motion, or change, is life. Ideas have life. A belief has life, or matter; for it can be changed. Now, all the aforesaid make up man; and all this can be changed. The mind is matter in solution and matter is mind in form.”
In this episode I suggest the array of ways one can do this; visually- selecting specific pictures that speak to your dream story and glueing them on a board, mentally- setting your scene, perhaps utilising calming music and really feeling into a meditative state where you envision your dream and experience the emotions that come with it and journaling- writing your dreams and goals out on paper, paying special attention to use in-the-moment dialogue I.e “my farm sits on 20 acres and we have 6 horses and enjoy regenerative farming practices”
Wherever you land when it comes to manifesting or intention setting I think everyone can collectively agree that pinpointing your life goals is a practice that can benefit anyone.
I hope you find something in this episode that speaks to you, whether you gravitate towards goal setting, vision boards, meditating on your dreams or just pivoting to align yourself with the kind of story you want for your life.
x Teresa
