The dreaming, the not letting go, the believing, the hanging on no matter how hard it seems, the self love, the hope.
These are all things swimming through my brain, the way snow flutters about in a snow globe.
Reality checks.
A slap on the cheek.
Wake up, and hold on, it all says.
At least, that's how it feels for me.
What about you?
Have you had a reality check lately?
Sometimes, we need a jolt.
Sometimes when it rains it pours.
But somewhere, somewhere, there is light.
Bad things make good things better.
Sometimes life gives us so much more than we can chew.
When I had the health scare happen, other things are/were happening in my world at the same time.
Stress found me.
Worry.
This, that and the other.
I wake up at 2 and 3 in the morning, not common for me as I normally sleep like a bear.
I have thoughts thoughts thoughts.
And then…….
I see the gift.
It's hard to see.
But, if I look closely, it is there.
Oh yes, clear as day.
An angel or two doesn't hurt either, does it?
Yes, I see it.
A message for me, a message for you.
Don't stop dreaming.
Dream little.
Dream big.
Do things that will help you capture your dreams.
I personally love the little dreams.
They weave together in the most magical way.
But the big dreams are good too.
I love this saying…
"If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough."
(Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and a great article)
All the things going on in my world are showing me that, I have to keep dreaming.
I have to keep believing.
It is who I am.
It is who we all are.
Isn't it?
We all want something beautiful.
(Did I just quote a song there?, Love that song)
But we do, don't we?
We all deserve something beautiful.
In our hearts.
In our lives.
A peace in our soul.
A safety in our mind.
A fulfillment in our living.
For me, it all comes back to the dream.
The belief.
The imagination.
The desire.
Talks with the heavens.
A hug for my own self.
Everyone feels hopeless sometimes.
It's natural.
But somewhere, somehow, in some way, we have to hang on to the dream.
Little dreams creep in.
A happy heart for today.
A good song that makes us want to get up and sway a little.
Maybe even sing out loud.
A skip in our step.
No worries.
A great big hug from someone we love.
A shooting star…
Just pretend a shooting star is speeding by you.
Then wish.
Wish hard.
Wish good.
Wish with your heart.
And hold on………
I am going to try this too.
It feels like a good day to remind ourselves to hold on to whatever our heart wishes are, doesn't it?
I have this song in my head…
Air guitar anyone?
Anyone?
🙂
Love, V
ps: Tender Loves…
I have stolen a few of these out of the garden.
Ripe ones of course.
They smell and taste unlike anything don't they?
When they come out of the earth like that, organically?
Amazing.
I got my roots from a neighbor man, he was tossing them in a big bag, no use for them as he had so many of the plants growing in his own garden.
I took a huge bag of brown sad roots home, soaked the roots (as they were so dry), planted them the next day.
Slowly the plants emerged, bigger each day.
And now months later, free strawberries.
Hooray!
Vanessa:
This post really hit me. Hopes and dreams! They are so, so, so important in our daily lives. Back in 2008, when my “Great Depression” really set in…I lost all hope. Once your hope is gone, everything else leaves you as well. You are left dreamless, heartless, loveless, an empty shell really. It never occurred to me before my Great Depression how important hope really is. Above all, it keeps us going even when life is hard and ugly and scary. It gives you something to look forward to. If we can’t look forward, we can’t live in the day. A total bleakness takes over without hope.
So….we all MUST keep our hopes and dreams. Little or big. I’m still trying to fully gather my hope and put it back in my heart. So…for all you young’ens out there reading this post and reading these comments ~ Hold on to your hopes and dreams. Hold on tight. Don’t let hopelessness and fear make you old and bitter. Stay young, stay googly-eyed and skip through your gardens! That’s what I used to do.
Vanessa….you are an inspiration. I am so thankful to you for sharing your experiences with your readers and friends.
It’s never to late to re-discover your dreams ~ to re-discover hope.
xoxo
Kim
Gerushia’s New World
Boy, do I know how hard it can be to keep dreaming – but we have to don’t we?
Lisa
Hi Vanessa…..you post today was incredible and inspiring as well. At my age….I know that Hope is a necessity if you are to make it in this world…..and besides……I also KNOW THIS …….NOTHING…my friend, lasts forever….things are constantly changing…so just “keep on keepin’ on” as they say.
Hugs,
Jo
This song still takes me back to my high school days..Vanessa :))
Saw Journey LIVE three times in the late 70’s early 80’s…
:))
Have a blessed week!
Thanks for sharing,
xo
Kay Ellen
I got the air guitar down! I just need the leopard print crop top and tight jeans.
Vanessa Dear, me and my girls are singing and rocking up a storm to your pick for the day! LOVE that STEVE PERRY! LOOKED him up just recently on the web to see what he is up to these days! Did you know he had the same life lessons hit him hard and he needed to Dream and Believe to continue his singing career, according to what I read.
Anyways, this year has been a hard one in my house too, with all types of craziness just keep on a coming. Morning time is the hardest cuz I wake up with those crazy thoughts going through my mind and so I just get up to stop the mind from getting me to a place I don’t want to be. I love your world and gardening and the pooches and shopping for bobbles to take me to dreamy land.
Right now, I think how delicioso your strawberries look! Haven’t had too many really sweet ones from the grocery store this year. BUMMER! By the way how are your Fanciful and Bizarre pumpkins coming along? <3 YA! ;
Dear sweet Vanessa.
Sounds to me, like you need a dose of Mad Tea!
Hope you are feeling more and more like your old self with each new day. Keep well lovely lady, and thankyou for continuing to share your thoughts and talents with us. It is always a pleasure to stop by and see your beautiful photos and prose.
🖤Vicki
Everyone battles depression in their lives at some time or another, or just feel really low, like perhaps they aren’t worth anything. This post just made me realize that everyone means something, in their own ways. And that it is so important to keep our hopes and dreams alive in order to make sure we see great things for our future. Your pictures also help me to keep dreaming, because they are so dreamy themselves! They give me inspiration 🙂
It has been a pleasure stopping by, at this late hour 😀
Roses, angels, and dreams – what a perfect combination! A fresh, red strawberry is the icing on the cake. (I’m waiting for our raspberries to grow plump, juicy and red.)
There will always be tides and waves of adventures and difficult times to get through. You have to keep your eye on the goal, the dreams, the big picture. If once you got to a desired spot that was it, there was no more, we would not appreciate it after a while. Although I would like to coast now and then.
I learned another tip regarding strawberries. To keep your garden safe from the birds, paint some rocks to look like strawberries. After a few tries at those the birds will ignore the real berries. They depend on sight and sound,not smell. Only a few disappointments and they give up.
I agree, the ebb and flow of life. There are always ups and downs,
and some that scare the socks off ya. But there is always tomorrow and
sun, like little Orphan Annie says ;)))))
The dark lets you see the light…..I am sure of it.
Vanessa
Valencia {A Fanciful Twist}
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.Com
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.Com
In a message dated 6/15/2012 9:13:39 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
I love all of these photos. There is magic in them. And peace. And reassurance that Someone wiser than us is in control. God is God, and I am not. For that I am glad.
And glad for volunteer plants! The ones that spring up where we did not plant the seed, yet the seed always knew it had everything it needed to become the plant…it just needed a nourishing place to land. Cheers to the volunteer plant spirit in us all.
**blows kisses** Deb
I think at this point in my life I have mostly small dreams. I just want a simple life of being able to stay home and take care of my home, garden, crafts, etc, etc. At this point being able to retire in a few years is my main dream. I dreamed of getting my self out of debt and 4 years and 2 months later I managed it. Before I did that there were days I thought I was in a nightmare. Years ago I dreamed of going to nursing school and I did it.
Now I dream of planting things. I design new garden plots in my head and on paper, leaf through catalogs (did I mention the pink daffodils I’m going to order soon?)
Reality-I think because of my job I realize how important every single day is, how important it is to let the people you care about know each day. I work with sick and sometimes dying children. Some of the kids just make a place in my heart. It’s hard to not lose myself in taking care of kids with cancer. But I give them my all when I am working. My mom’s death from cancer was very hard for me-hard for me to know what was happening-but easier for me to be able to help may family understand and answer their questions. Hard for me because taking care of the sick is who I am, it’s not just a job, it’s a way of thinking and being. It was very hard for me to know I couldn’t fix my mom. Hard for me to make a decision and then 2nd guess myself. But I think it has made me a better nurse because I can understand even more what my families at work are going through. I try to help “my kids” get better to live their dreams.
I keep forgetting things-love that you brought the strawberry roots back to life. What a gift that was. I love strawberries (I had a sald with strawberries earlier).
Vanessa……I hope you know how special you are……(I actually think about you when I go to Walmart & see the almost dead plants they are throwing away “Vanessa would bring those back to life!”)
Your Fanciful Twist World is my happy place ~~~ there must be something in the water of the glittery snow globe we can all relate to. I believe you have a higher vibrational level than most people ~ those who are close to us who don’t get us are just not fanciful enough! And they think everyone should be like them.
After your near death experience, (the knock at your door) you would love this book “Women Who Run With the Wolves” Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D. She is a Mexican Storyteller……I’m almost BEGGING you to read this….
Sending love to you ~ ~ ~
Oh can’t help but start with saying that those strawberries look so ripe and sweet! Yum!
And yes Mademoiselle, I have had reality checks and hate them. Mostly with the parents dropping their kids off at the daycare I work at asking me if I have any little ones of my own. WHAT?! HAHA! That’s such a foreign concept to me, it’s like I can’t even believe they would ask. Makes me feel old, or like I’m doing the wrong stuff in life.
Sometimes it feels as though my dreams are moving at a snail’s pace, or that they’re no longer accomplishable anymore. That in itself is scary. I should take joy, we all should, in the fact that you’re never too old to dream new drea,s, and to pursue them 🙂
Thank you for this post, Vanessa. I needed to read it. 🙂 You do inspire me so! 🙂 Strawberries – they are my favorite. Our batch has finished for the season – now it is time for raspberries – yum! xoxo
Yes! I have a dream, a way of life that I want to be living and just yesterday I had a panic, realising that I hadn’t made any steps towards that dream for quite a while. What if it isn’t possible at all I worried, what if I’m stuck like this forever. Luckily my lovely C is my best cheerleader, he picked me up, gave me tea and put me back on the road to dream land.