Saturday, February 11, 2012

Dreaming My Old Life Away


My dreams are always very vivid.  Bright colors and grand details fill my head while I slumber.  There is nowhere I can't travel and no feats I can't achieve in my dreams.  Characters dance around and plots unfold with great ease.  Last night, for some unknown reason, I found myself in Italy...at some villa...about to dive into the crystal clear waters of a secret grotto I had discovered.


I was also known for sleepwalking when I was a child.  I have walked into closets, attempted to cook my own breakfast on a Saturday afternoon, and carried on complete conversations to the amusement of my siblings.  I'm glad I wasn't sleepwalking last night.  Not only do I not know how to speak Italian, I also don't know how to swim, and can't imagine where I would have actually found myself once I woke up.



Then there is daydreaming.  I'm pretty sure Mark Twain probably created one of his finest characters, Huck Finn, during a daydream.  When a writer allows his or her imagination the chance to run free, without restrictions as to subject matter, amazing things can happen.  Entire worlds have been created from a simple dream and our own reality has been the better for it.


I have decided to allow my dreams to change how I will live my life.  To let my dreams shape and mold my thinking where I set aside my old life of "couldn'ts" and "shouldn'ts".  To realize that telling myself that I COULDN'T possibly write a children's book or that I SHOULDN'T dream of being a published author one day will only create a life of dreams unfulfilled. 

Who else, I wonder, will join me in having a peaceful night's sleep...eager to see where dreams may take us?









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18 comments:

  1. janetFebruary 11, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    I always have strange dreams. I have been told many times that I should write them down. Maybe I will. Even just to entertain myself. And my therapist.

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 10:53 AM

      Lol, Janet, I never thought about using dreams as "therapy"...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  2. stephen HayesFebruary 11, 2012 at 11:13 AM

    Conceptual ideas don't come to me in my dreams but solutions to problems do. I'll fall asleep wondering how I'll fix a plot problem in my writing and when I open my eyes the solution is dancing in my head.

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 11:41 AM

      Thanks, Stephen, for stopping by! Solutions to problems sometimes come to me in my dreams as well. I am a highly visual person...heck, I can't even drive to a new place unless I can visualize how to get there! Many a time I have had to call my best friend and get him to be my "gps"...lol...

      Have a great weekend and come back any time!

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  3. UnknownFebruary 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM

    I have very vivid dreams as well, and sometimes they're often recurring, almost like reading the next chapter of a story. I've gotten many great book ideas from my dreams!

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 8:40 PM

      Thanks, Vicki, for stopping by! I returned to writing after a 20 year absence because of a series of nightly dreams over a period of three weeks where every night I would dream of a complete picture book from cover to cover and would then wake up the next morning and have to write it down. That's when I decided it was time to return to my writing.

      Have a great weekend and come back any time!

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  4. Cheryl VelasquezFebruary 11, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    Donna great post. I dream every night. Sometimes I dream the stories I've written, crazy right.

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 8:42 PM

      Cheryl, I believe it's God, or our muse, or the ghosts of children's books in the future...lol...whatever you want to call it...that is challenging us to take those ideas and turn them into magic.

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2012 at 2:20 PM

    Oh my Donna! the more I read your posts, the more I see how much we are in common. After reading this I thought "good lord, she's like the sister I never had.."...lol.
    I was a terrible sleep walker and my Mum delights in telling anyone who will listen about the time I (a small child) scared her while she was watching a scary movie on black and white tv....lol. Like you I am very much a visual and I dream anywhere anytime day or night very colourful packed with detail. Infact I once typed on chat to an online friend nearly a whole dream that would well make an adult movie or novel. One day, one day I'll write it down....LOL. Thanks for sharing Donna.

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 8:46 PM

      Hey, Diane, I don't mind being your "spirit" sister! I have two sisters...one I'm very close to and the other...not so much...lol...so you can take her place...;0)...

      I would really like to know where the Italy thing came from as I have never had a strong interest to visit that lovely country before...lol

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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    2. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2012 at 9:21 PM

      "Spirit sister"! Sure why not.
      Italy...mmm. It dosen't necessarily have to do with the country, but it does sound like you were in a peaceful, romantic place... of being! Maybe you had better take up swiming lessons just incase...lol.

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    3. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 9:32 PM

      I've always wanted to swim...unfortuately I had a "trick" played on me when I was 17 and I nearly drowned...LOVE the ocean and want to retire near it one day but can't get too near the water...even in a pool...I will leave the splashing around to someone else...lol...

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  6. Gwen GardnerFebruary 11, 2012 at 2:49 PM

    I was a sleep walker, too. I even tried to go outside to play in the middle of the night! I'm stopping by from the campaign to follow and say hey!

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 8:50 PM

      Thanks, Gwen, for stopping by! Good luck with your critique blogfest!

      Thanks for becoming a follower and come back any time!

      Delete
  7. Julie HedlundFebruary 11, 2012 at 9:38 PM

    My dreams, too, are incredibly vivid, and I dream in all 5 senses! I've often thought of mining them for writing, but they are so complex that whenever I start trying to write them down it just sounds ridiculous and I can't keep the thread (that seemed so logical in the dream itself).

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 11, 2012 at 10:14 PM

      Julie, I've had such vivid dreams that sometimes I would wake up, sit up in my bed and the "dream" was still going on around me...had a lady in my dream sitting on the end of my bed still talking to me when I woke one time. Now that's what I call being caught between two worlds...lol...

      Thanks for stopping by and come back any time!

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  8. EllaFebruary 12, 2012 at 12:41 PM

    Hi Donna,
    I enjoyed this post! I Love this view; I'm going to have to keep a journal by my bed to capture the fragments of thought!

    Wonderful idea; I look forward to your journey!

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    1. Think Positive, Be PositiveFebruary 12, 2012 at 1:27 PM

      Thanks, Ella, for stopping by! Aren't those illustrations of dreaming just gorgeous? Hope you are having a relaxing weekend and come back any time!

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