The Experiment: Day 75 ~ Planting Seeds For Dreams (And Being Open To What Comes)…

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, I’m right there with you, or I was. Years and years of WANTING to believe that “The Law of Attraction” worked and trying and trying and then wishing I’d never heard of “The Secret.” I came to the conclusion that it was all a bunch of hooey, and I felt cheated and angry and sad. Then some months ago I read a wonderful book recommended to me by my dear friend Bekah, The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler and something in me saw the whole thing in a new way. (I can’t recommend that book highly enough, it’s a great read too by the way, and when I went to get the link to the book I saw your can get a used hardcover for 10 cents on amazon!) What I came to see was that you can’t just wish a thing and make it so, or write it down on a piece of paper and POOF it appears. You have to put some muscle behind it. Let me say that another way.

I believe in planting seeds of dreams, and I believe with my whole heart that these things can come true, but there are two very important things you must know and understand going in. Like planting seeds in a garden you don’t just put seeds in the ground and then walk away and expect that you will have a lush garden overnight. First of all it takes time, but it also takes a lot of care. You have to watch over it, tend it, and water it regularly. Inotherwords wishing and dreaming is an active, living, growing thing. You plant the seeds and then every single day you DO something to tend and care for them. The last time you wished for something did you put in the work? Did you do something every single day to nurture the dream, to fertilize it? Here’s something I’d like you to try. Write down, at the top of a piece of paper or in your journal, your current dream, the one most pressing in your heart right now. Make it big and bold and colorful. Next, believe in your heart that it might be so. THEN get off your duff and DO something about it. Here’s a good way to begin. Underneath where you have written down what your wish/dream is, write the numbers 1-30 down beneath it. Now, make a list of things you will do, it can be a tiny thing each day over the next month, to help your garden grow, and with each day that passes, each successive day of showing up and doing your part, you will grow in confidence that your dream is on it’s way. Mind, it could take 6 months or a year or longer if it’s a big one but keep at it, never waver, do your one thing each day. An active dream is a living dream, you must keep the homefires burning, you mustn’t let them go out!

Next, and I think this is just huge, and something that is a big problem for people. You have to trust and have an open heart and mind once you cast your bread upon the waters because your dream may come true right before your eyes and you may discount it. It may not be manifested just as you imagined it. You set the ball in motion but a power greater than you, greater than all of us, may see the trajectory of your wishing and know that if its course went slightly in another direction with a slightly different outcome it could serve you better and make you happier in the long run. Going back to the garden analogy think of this, and if you’ve ever had a garden you will likely have had this experience. You plant your garden, you know what you want and expect to come up, but somewhere in the middle of everything will come up something positively glorious THAT YOU DID NOT PLANT. I have had a lone cantaloupe come up in a patch of rainbow chard, a stunning orange Tithonia Torch come up in a field of zinnias, and when I saw it I was overcome with how glorious it was and I fell in love with it. We must put our whole heart into the wish, and then keep it open for just exactly what might come. On the path to your dream you may follow a road less traveled and find out that it takes you to the exact place you’ve been searching for your whole life, but you have to put your dream out there and then follow up, day by day, doing “the next right thing.”

And you may want to examine what is underneath the thing you are wishing for. Say you have a very precise thing in mind, you’ve always wanted, say, a VW Beetle, but when the time comes you may end up with a funky, orange Honda Element (That’s what happened to me!). You never maybe liked orange cars, and nothing is odder looking than the Element, but as soon as you see it you fall in love. And as soon as you get behind the wheel you know you are home, you know this is it, the perfect car you have waited your whole life for! It is perfect! If you had clung to the dream of a VW Beetle you may have turned away from the Element, not knowing your best possible outcome was right before you. I wanted the green Element when I came to looking at them, only an orange one was available, I looked at it askance and then thought, oh well, why not? And I swear to you that car is the love of my life. Perfect for me in more ways than I could have ever imagined. And I love the orange. It makes me smile every time I look at it. I have written about her before. I named her Peppermint Patty as soon as I got her because she was not the prettiest girl on the lot but she was a good girl, not flashy, but mine. I have since known that buying that orange Element was one of the best decisions I ever made!

It makes me smile just to look at it. We are perfect for one another!

So, too, your dreams. Plant the seeds for your dreams, water them daily, and watch them grow with an open heart and mind, they may manifest in ways you could never have imagined, but that might be the real true perfect thing. Trust, and believe. “If you can dream it, you can do it,” but you’ve got to put in the work. Are you doing that? If not, start today, and keep on keeping on. It will be worth the wait…

 


The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: 
Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda

Comments

  1. if, for example, i want to be a poet (not just “call myself a poet”) then what i must do is write a poem – every day. as in other years, i have done. and which, should i make it my dream, i will do again. but first i must ask myself, as you say in your blog, what IS my dream? it’s a good topic for conversation with oneself.

    xo
    ka

    • Darling Ka, it is indeed! And it’s a great thing to ask ourselves as we approach the new year. It is the perfect time to call in new dreams for the coming year. Do you know what yours is? I’d love to know…

      Love you honey, hope you and Tom are having a happy holiday season…

      Maitri xo

  2. Thank you again Maitri for another wonderful blog. I wonder about. The Law of Attraction although I do know that we have to DO something to make our dreams come true.
    I found The Wishing Year in my local library so I put a hold on it. I’m looking forward to reading the book.
    I love your Orange Element. Yes I would like Volkswagen Bug.
    Love, Jean

    • Oh Jean I’m so excited that you are going to read The Wishing Year! I can’t wait to see what you think!And yes, though I always longed for a Beetle the Element is what I need, the back seat is completely filled with a huge dog crate for when I take babies to the vet and it stays in there. Whatever would I have done with them in a Beetle? 😀 But I still dream of those little bugs, if I was rich I could have 2 cars and drive the Bug around just for me! Fun to dream about! Do let me know what you think of The Wishing Year! Love you honey…

  3. This is also a concept I have struggled with for many years. The biggest frustration was in selling a house. I felt like I had done as much as I could to prepare and stage and still it took much longer than expected. In that kind of situation, I realize that there are also the factors of other people involved. Then, the other big situation in probably at least the last five years has been the goal of improving my health, well being and energy levels. Again, I have tried several healthy nutritional approaches along with regular exercise and still seemed to gain weight and get more sluggish each year. That is, until now, with the ketogenic diet which is working in a magical way for me.

    So, with both those scenarios, I have to wonder why it took so long when I felt my intentions were good and that I was doing lots of things to foster them.

    We did unexpectedly manifest this lovely apartment before selling our last house and that part did happen in a serendipitous way as it was not at all what we were originally looking for. But, here we are in our 6th year here.

    I too have reserved the book from the library and it is available so I’ll likely get it this week. It will be interesting to read another perspective.

    • Ah Joan, so many whys, and I know exactly how you feel. why on earth did I wait so long, weighing over 300 pounds and suffering. Keto has changed my life in so many ways, not just weight loss. There’s no turning back now for me, I’m keto for life.

      And I’m so happy you found your lovely apartment. I’d love to hear your story about the serendipity. I bet it’s just marvelous! And oh yes! I’m so excited that you, too, are going to read The Wishing Year! I can’t wait to hear what you think honey!

      I hope you are enjoying your tree and all the beautiful decorations. I think of you often and wish you well. 🙂

      • Here is the story about the apartment. Our original intention was to look for something in a house, not a whole house but a unit in one that was maybe duplexed. There are many of those in this old neighborhood that we wanted to stay in. We weren’t really ready to look yet as our house was not sold. I had started looking at ads online to get an idea of prices.

        Then, one day, my next door neighbor, who was also thinking of moving out of her house but had not yet put it on the market, called me. She had started looking at places to get an idea of her options. She asked me to go look at one duplex with her. I did. It did not suit her but I liked it. Unfortunately we could not commit and I doubted it would still be available in a few months. A little later she called me again. She said she was going back for a second look at an apartment in a high rise. She was pretty impressed and suggested we come along. So we did. It was in our neighborhood and set back off the street on a lovely piece of land with a large green space which had many mature trees.

        As far as my husband was concerned, an apartment in a high rise was not even on his radar. But, when we saw the design of the building and the spacious layout of the apartments we were pretty impressed. There were only 8 units on each floor with a laundry room on each floor. There was a common hallway joining the two towers and that area housed a social room, a gym and an indoor pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. There was underground parking which meant no more snow shoveling in winter. Utilities (water and hydro) were included in the rent. And the price for a big 3 bedroom unit with two full baths was only $100 more than what we would pay for a 2 bedroom in a house.

        I was sold as soon as I saw it and it didn’t take too long to convince my husband. We checked on availability and not long after put a deposit down to move in 3 months. It was one of those situations that just ‘felt right’ to do even though our house was not yet sold. Our house did sell in December but the deal did not close until a month after we moved so we had both places for that time. That meant we could actually focus on getting our new place set up and unpacked and take our time doing the final clean out of the house.

        It’s a quiet building, well constructed so you don’t hear noise from adjoining apartments. Mostly really nice people live here. My husband, who plays guitar, now helps lead a sing along every Wednesday evening in the social room. He has been doing that for about four years now and loves it. He loves the apartment and I will have a very hard time convincing him to move elsewhere when it is time for us to downsize again.

        Our former neighbor never did end up moving here but she liked to come over to visit and to review the story of how she got us interested in this place. 🙂

        • Oh Joan what a wonderful story! And your apartment sounds just perfect! And all the amenities! I’d say you hit the jackpot when you found that place, and nice going to an apartment that has some space just coming out of a house. Do you really think you’ll need to downsize again? It sounds so perfect! In any event I’m happy you found it and that it all worked out and your house sold, everything worked out just right. I loved reading this story tonight. Thanks so much for sharing… 🙂

          • I’m thinking once my husband retires it may be difficult for us to afford to stay here. He still works full time but will likely want to retire in the next year or two. He is 66 but still working to top up his retirement saving plan. Our rent has gone up a bit every year we have been here. I guess we’ll just have to do comparisons with other places when the time comes and sit down and do a budget to help us decide.

  4. Sounds like a good book to add to my list! I am intrigued wit the idea of unexpected results- and the wisdom to recognize them. I’m starting to see life as a very complex weaving…..

    • Ah Lorraine honey, life is so much more than we ever thought or realized. In the days of mailing lists on Yahoo I had a big list called Women Weaving Dreams. It was actually a fiber list with a lot of real weavers, but there was also the component of creating our own lives as we wish them to be, weaving all the elements together, weaving together all the diaphanous threads of our dreams into an incredibly beautiful reality. It’s what I’m working on now. We can do this together. Let’s!

  5. No dream, no trust here. Bad t-word. Need to find out what might bring the sparkle back into my life.
    Don’t dream it. Be it. (Rocky Horror Picture Show) Just need to find out what “it” is, I guess.
    So you love Peppermint Patty, too!
    Sending blessings over the ocean
    Yours Silke

    • Oh Silke, I hope you DO find your sparkle! It’s so important to have some sparkle in our lives, it’s that extra oooomph! that helps us get out of bed in the morning, ready to face the day. I had lost mine for a very long time and those were very dark days, very painful, so I understand this place, but the sparkle can come back, and when it does, it’s glorious!

      And yes, I love that! BE it! Finding out what “it” is may be your goal for 2018. What if you wrote, every day, “I think “it” is…” and just went wild and crazy and silly and over the top, stay loose, have fun with it, and one day when you’re writing something will strike a chord and you’ll know you’re onto something! Keep at it! Chase that dream and catch it in a butterfly net! And then set to making it happen. I believe these things can happen, it’s the whole core belief for me right now. Won’t you try it with me? 😀

      Blessings to you too dearheart, over the ocean and around the moon!

      Maitri

      • Sounds fun. Chasing the “it”. A bit like setting out to find the heffalump.
        Feels like something I could start the day with!
        🙂
        Looking forward to tomorrow’s blog post
        Yours Silke

        • Ah Silke! The Heffalump! I LOVE the Heffalump! I used to watch that with my grandson over and over. What a delightful way to think about it! 😀 And it tickles me so much that you look forward to the next posts, it’s nice to know people are reading and enjoying them.

          Bless you honey,

          Maitri

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