Queen of Dreams Radio
Posts Tagged ‘Dream Big’
Hi All… this has been a super busy week – internally as well as externally, so that is why I have not blogged here every day, although I have many blog entries written in my head for you! Now how many times have I said we should not use our minds to store things???
Today, I am presenting my Power of Dreaming Big workshop at PJ Spur’s Soul Compass MeetUp. This workshop is sold out… and I’m thrilled about being able to serve in this way. The many insights that have come as I have created this workshop especially for these participants have astounded me and I can feel a river of fun coming toward us for this afternoon.
As I keep sharing with you, I’m at a place now in my life/heart/soul where I feel I know in every part of who I am that I am here to be an example of trusting the connection with the infinite within. This will take me on many adventures, I’m sure. After so many years in Spirit University, I’m grateful and thankful for this graduation day. I know there will be many more graduation days as I continue to live, learn and love. Somehow, this one feels so hard-earned and sweet.
If you know of any groups or if you have a group that would like to go higher and live life in the sweetness of the everyday magic that flows from this infinite connection, please let me know!
Last night, I watched the Keith Urban interview on the Oprah show. I am a HUGE Keith Urban fan. LOVE him!
As the little intro played prior to the show introducing him to the audience and viewers, there it was…Pictures of him as a little guy loving country music, playing guitar to Australian audiences and hitting super Aussie stardom, and then a few sentences such as “he left Australia and moved to Nashville where he rocketed to even great fame!”
And, while that sounds nice, it isn’t exactly true. They left out a minor detail of the 10 YEARS in between “leaving Australia” and “rocketing to fame” not to mention some major bouts with the dark night of the soul, drug abuse and false starts during that 10 years.
Why do I care?
Well, because I see people trying to measure up and reproduce these illusions and they are simply not real. I’ve probably read between 500 and 1,000 biographies and autobiographies, and any way you slice it, the arc is roughly 10 years.
I don’t care if you are Brittany Spears who started at 7 or so and was a superstar by 17 or you are Taylor Swift and you started singing at 3 and were a megasuperstar by 16 or you are J.K. Rowling who wrote for years, and then committed to a character and story for five years and hit mega stardom two to three years after that. Even late-in-life successes such as Paula Dean adhered to that time span.
The focus tends to be on the destination. The desire is attached to the fame. However, each one of these ‘superstars’ took a journey to the center of who they are and each day showed up to be what that is. Along the way, they figured out the details.
So, if you are feeling like it is going to take too long to reach your dream, keep this in mind. The sooner you get going, the sooner the 10 years (or so) ticks away. Be honest, if you didn’t believe in yourself until now (like I did) or if you haven’t had the courage until now (like many I know) or if you simply didn’t figure out what ‘it’ is (like most of us), give yourself a break and be happy that you are on the same trail as all of those who went before you. Enjoy the day to day details that are guaranteed to take you places if and only if you don’t quit (because it feels like that destination is just too far away).
You can be a REAL form of the true you…superstar and all…if you start today! What is REALLY exciting is that at that 10 year mark, things have a way of exponentially taking off.
P.S. And, if you don’t believe me about the 10 years or so, check for yourself. You can look up any movie star you like, find their ‘breakout hit’ and then travel back in time on their filmography and see how MANY films (and years) there were BEFORE they were famous enough for you to notice them. There’s a reason why there’s a term called a 10-year overnight success! 
Of course, like anything there ARE exceptions to the rules…though I don’t see many of them! And, don’t stop that from you being open to being one of them…still, it all starts in the same place and goes from there…one-step-at-a-time.
Looking for a Dream Life:
A friend and I chatted a few days ago about the difference between finding a ‘job’ and finding a ‘dream job.’ I said, “You know, it takes the same amount of effort to go for what you really want as it does to settle for what you don’t want.” She quickly retorted, “I disagree! It takes a lot of effort to go to a job you HATE every day.” I said, “I agree with you after you get a job you don’t like. What I’m talking about is the idea of people going for a job they think they can get vs. one they really want.”
While my Queenie Dreams self won’t be focusing on this aspect, Deb and I are collaborating to write a book for people looking for a job. It’s called, I’ve Got to Get a Job NOW! We are lending our sales and marketing expertise to a practical guide to finding a job NOW! As relationship experts, our approach will be heavily geared toward tapping into the power of people.
I’m looking for any stories you have about people’s experiences looking for a job. I am only looking for TRUE stories.
We each have been speaking at Career Outreach groups, so if you know of a group, please let me know at tina[at]tinaferguson.com.
I drank in the Oprah interview with J.K. Rowling like a kid eating popcorn in the front row of the theater. Two of my favorite ladies in the world sitting together for tea, chatting like old friends felt like life at its best. I love a great conversation, and let me tell you, this was a great conversation.
Oprah asks such great questions – the ones I always want to ask – and J.K. (Jo) was so open and honest. Yeah!!
On the show, a clip from a Harvard University commencement speech showed Jo talking about failure and how failure is so important. She said that she hit rock bottom and that foundation is where she rebuilt her life. Having gone through my own huge failure (complete with paralyzing stint in the ditch) I so related to what she shared. I have spoken to friends about how we all ‘play it safe’ and ‘quit’ when we think we aren’t going to win something. I wrote about my Oprah tryout…that day my intuition told me I would not get a call back, but my inner guidance said, “Go.” In our world so focused on succeeding and racking up achievements, what would one every think about going somewhere where you know you won’t win? That day, I got to see and learn what the experience has to offer me.
My own failure was debilitating. I was ill-prepared for it as I had skirted dealing with any failure (except for the end of my first marriage) my entire life. Once I locked into a path, and then my intuition alerted me that all the doors were closing, I freaked (literally!). I was scared. I could only hold on for dear life. But what I didn’t know then that J.K., Oprah and many others, including myself, know is that failure is just a moment in time that molds you and offers you a gift to use to create something new. Like Jo said… her rock bottom became her foundation… “there was nothing left to lose.”
When Pat Bacilli was on my show a few weeks ago, she talked about this, too. She talked about not going for it, playing it safe. Jo, in the commencement clip, eluded to the unfortunate experience of playing it so safe that you might as well not lived at all. Ah, yes. Wise words for all of us.
When I go speak for organizations, I ask, “What is your juicy dream? What is the dream in the back of your heart that you know you want to go for?” Most people know what their dream is. Not many dare to let it see the light of day. I dare you to pull yours out and consider taking just one step.
When I went to the childrens’ book writing conference a few weeks ago, I met many people who had written for years and never considered publishing. There I was, juicy dream in my heart, 30+ years later considering the possibility of my dream. Why now? For me, it is because I’m no longer afraid. As Jo shared in her interview, poverty cut everything that was not essential. I’ve done that too. I now have space for what is most important to me, and I also know what is important to me. Now it is time to do only those things. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And, yes, spending an hour with Oprah and Jo is one of those things most important to me. It goes under the heading of ‘tea with good friends.’ It’s an interview I’ll never forget. It even included a tidbit about Jo hearing an encouragement from a ‘voice’… “The hard part will be getting published. If you do that, it will be huge.” SO glad she didn’t give up!
Looking for a Dream Life:
A few nights ago I dreamt that I was flying. Well, that’s not exactly true. It was more that I found this magic piece of paper and the more I pushed down on the paper, the higher up in the air I flew…more like propelled straight up into the air.
It was less flying and more of a take off. At first I felt unsure. Then I thought, ‘Hey, this could be fun.’ As I started playing more with the paper, the higher up I flew. At one point I was actually having fun with it. Then I looked down and became scared to death of how high up in the air I actually was (maybe 100 feet), and like a lead balloon plummeted back to Earth.
I’ve been mulling this dream around in my mind for days now. There was something so magical about it and yet so ‘right now’ and ‘right here.’ The feeling felt supported…divine and inspired.
Today I’m going to a conference for children’s book writers and illustrators. I am excited in a way I have not really felt before. A combination of butterflies, excitement and joyous enthusiasm mixed with the elixir of the child heart love brings me the most delightful feeling!
I shared a couple of weeks ago that this is my big, juicy dream – the one that no one has heard or seen. This has been my dream since I was a little girl. And, like Nicholas Sparks said before he committed to his first novel, The Notebook, “It’s now or never to see what can happen when I commit myself.”
Can’t wait to see what happens! I’ve been writing this book for about two months now (off and on as I often work on many projects at once). This story is based on a fairytale I created for Chance one night as a bedtime story. We continued it in nightly installments for weeks. Each day he kept begging me to tell him what was going to happen next. And, of course, I wouldn’t tell him – couldn’t tell him – because I didn’t know myself what would happen as these characters came to life right before my eyes!
Wish me luck!
Of COURSE, my story has a pegasus in it!