Last June, on my birthday, I wished a wish.
A wish I didn’t even know was hiding deep inside.

You see, it was my 29th birthday. And I was tossing about, thinking about turning 30 (you know, in a year…I like to think ahead) and I felt like I really wanted to DO something before turning 30. What, I didn’t know…but something, Yeah, something.

I sat down with my journal and my thoughts and I wrote and wrote a zillion ideas. I’d start a new business (I already have 2), I’d create a new product. I’d buy a house. I’d travel the world.

But none of them felt right. They felt like shoulds. So I asked, “When you turn 30, what will you say, “I’m so glad I did that!” about?”

And just like that, I knew.
I want to write a book.

Ok, but writing a book takes time. And I don’t just want to write it, I want to get it published.
There’s my dream and my goal – sell a book to a publisher before my 30th birthday.

(In case this seems like a long time, keep in mind that for a nonficiton book, you have to create a detailed book proposal, shop it to agents (maybe), and then shop it to publishers. It’s taken my friends 3-5 years to sell their first book…so one year was being ridiculous.)

But I decided I liked it.

There’s nothing I like more than being ridiculous.

I kept it as my little secret for about a week before I worked up the courage to tell my husband.

“So, um, I’m thinking that maybe I’ll write a proposal and sell a book before I turn 30. It’s this little goal I just set for myself. Um, but it’s so embarrassing! I don’t even know what I’ll write about! Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s crazy….”

Jay just looked at me calmly and said, “It’s not crazy. It’s the next step. I bet you’ll do it sooner.”

And snap, the dream felt doable.

(Lesson: Sometimes all it takes is someone else to believe in your dream to make it doable.)

The next week, I sent some emails to some friends. In a week, a publisher asked for “just a rough outline of what you might write about.” I spent a day organizing everything I had been teaching and writing about for the last 2 years. At the end of the month, the very first month, I had a contract in my inbox.
And that should be the end of the story, right?
My dream came true in the first month I pursued it!

But dreams aren’t tidy. They’re slippery. When you pursue them, they transform. They get layers.

The truth is, I freaked out.
I realized that this dream was about to come true. Way too early.

I wasn’t the person I’d thought I’d be.
I wasn’t a writer, I wasn’t an author.
How in the world could I sign a contract to write a book I only had a rough outline of?
I didn’t reply to the emailed contract for nearly 2 months.

In that two months, I worked through all the stuff I didn’t know I was carrying about this dream. I looked at each of my assumptions – What is a writer? What about who I already am is close to being a writer? What have I learned about myself that might prove that I am ready for this?

And then I got a logistical- What will this project take from me? What is the time commitment? Where can I fit it in? What will I give up in order to do it?

And I dreamed a new dream – that the book would be published by my birthday.
(This is also a ridiculous dream – traditional publishers take 15-18 months to take a finished manuscript and publish a book. But I was with an indie publisher.)

And I signed the contract.
And my dream came true.
I wrote the book.
It was nothing and everything like I dreamed.

And quite by surprise, the rest of my life unfolded around this dreams.
New clients approached me, I started new kinds of work.
My businesses thrived. I traveled more. I made new friends.

Towards the end, when the words were flowing out of me, 7,0000 a day, I started to thrum with ideas. Not just for the book, but for everything, everywhere, all around me.
And in February, I turned in my manuscript.
Later this month, it will be released.

But of course, even though the dream has come true, it created all these new dreams. Dreams to travel and meet the readers. Dreams to hold workshops. Dreams to write another book. Dreams to keep writing for 2 hours every morning.

Tara Swiger captains a Starship, makes yarn, and writes about crafting your own business adventure. Her book, Market Yourself, is available for pre-order here.

Enjoying these Dream Really Do Come True guest posts? We’ll be compiling them into a free inspirational e-book for you! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter to find out when it’s available.

And if you’re looking for Wishcasting, we’ll be back May 9th!

To celebrate their upcoming Creative Joy Retreat, two of my dear friends, Jennifer Louden and Susannah Conway, asked me to share my creative joy! I hope it will spark some joyful thoughts and explorations for you. Answer these questions in your journal or I’d love it if you’d tell me about your creative joy in the comments below!

What is creative joy for you?

My creative joy emerges when I connect with aliveness. It can really be through an artistic medium: dance, writing, blogging, photography, entrepreneurship, collage, painting… Experiencing my own aliveness, another artist’s, the Universe’s or the project’s, this is what makes me fall in love with the world, with the Universe, with art, with all of us, over and over again.

What did it look like this week?

This week I went on a 24-hour creative vision quest. Giving myself this extended space and time to delve deep into my artistic practice was just what my heart was yearning for.

What gets in the way for you?

My love of so many mediums generally means there are opportunities for joy everywhere but it also means that often some of my favourite creative expressions are neglected. Running my own business, entrepreneurship tends to the top of the list, while I rarely get to painting.

What feeds it?

Following my creative rhythm. As a person who spans the line between introvert and extrovert, I’m sensitive to when I need to be by myself with a pen or a song or a camera or an idea and when I need to get out into the world, to connect with creative playmates to and see what magic we can stir up together!

If your creative joy had a voice, what would it say about what it loves, needs, and hates?

My creative joy hates competition and judgment. She withers under an overly critical eye. She doesn’t like to be pushed. In fact, she’s pretty fierce about that. She needs to be free and expressed and nourished with ideas and experiences and sleep and connection. And she’s not above kicking me in the shins when I haven’t provided! She wants to have fun and think and explore and try and wonder and grow and she would just love for everyone to jump into the creative pool together and play!

What’s your learning edge with creative joy these days?

I seem to return to this edge, dancing on it again and again: tending to myself (my body, my spirit, my mind, my heart) so that I am fully available to the creative joy that wants to be expressed through me. This is my practice of devotion and in this moment, it’s feeling rather new.

I’d love to hear about your creative joy! Please share below.

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
Vincent Van Gogh

“I bet the same thing applies to photography.” Jamie

I’ve never understood the numbers of photography, the technical aspects: f-stops, apertures, shutter speeds, ISO. I have talented photographer friends who have patiently tried to educate me but my eyes go fuzzy and my brain just kind of shuts down. I give them the good old *blink blink* stare of a deer in the headlights.

What’s up with that?

For several years now I’ve been carrying my camera with me everywhere. I take photos every single day. I’m always looking for a moment to capture, a morsel of the day, an expression of a place or of myself. Until recently, I hadn’t realized how much photography has become a part of the way I experience life, a way I engage in the world around me, a way I express my creative self. I kind of got it when my sister Suzie was looking at a project I’m working on and she responded with, “I totally recognize your photography.” My photography?

That inspired me to pick up my copy of Expressive Photography: The Shutter Sisters’ Guide to Shooting from the Heart with the intention of reading through it slowly, actively trying to engage, bit by bit, with what I learn. When Tracey Clark was on Creative Living with Jamie, she really inspired me to be more playful in my explorations, to try a setting, take a shot, try another setting and see what happened. This was going to be fun.

I opened the book. And then I read “aperture” “f-stop” “exposure” “ISO” and felt myself numbing out again…

Closing down…

But then…

This determination showed up in me. I thought, “Heck, I’m smart. There is no reason I can’t figure this out, maybe not all at once but piece by piece.” And I remembered this video and how Alice Herz Sommer’s mother had told her to learn something every day and thought – today I’ll learn about apertures. Not “Today I’ll learn photography.” Just apertures.

So, I read the definition of aperture in the Expressive Photography glossary. I took notes and tried to summarize what it meant in my own words. I found this really clear article by Nasim Mansurov. I found the aperture settings on my camera. I took photos at the lowest range and highest range and tried to see the difference. I was totally engaged and kind of getting it.

And then… I started to get confused about how my camera works. I tried to figure out how the aperture interacts with other settings and what I can control and what I can’t. I tried to figure out what range of aperture is normal for digital point-and-shoots and wondered, is this useless if you don’t have a DSLR? And…. and… and I started to convince myself, once again, that this is too hard, too confusing and I’m never going to get it.

Take a deep breath, Jamie.

In fact, the truth was that in that moment I understood more about aperture than I ever had before. I discovered that the aperture is the opening that lets light into the camera, just like our pupil lets light into our eyes. And, like our pupil, it can get bigger and smaller, letting more or less light in. I know now that f-stops refer to the size of the opening and though it may seem counter-intuitive, the larger the number, the smaller the opening. I learned also that when the aperture size is smaller, the foreground and background will be in focus and when the size is larger, the background will start to get fuzzy, creating a sense of depth of field. And that’s enough for now. (And if I have any of that wrong, please feel free to let me know in a kind and gentle way. If it’s more complicated, I’ll get there.. or not. For now, baby steps and basics is where I’m at).

I don’t know how much I’ll want to learn about photography. I’ll figure that out as I go. What I do know is that I want to stop telling myself that I can’t do it – and the best way to do that is to dive in.

Learn to Use the Power of Intention & Intuition
to Create a Dreamboard!

Whether you call it a dream board, a vision board or an inspiration board, the magic is the same. When you bring together images with intention and intuition, you invite in the power of your dreams!

I have been working with dreamboards forever, starting with sitting around the coffee table in my Mom’s apartment and dreaming with my siblings! For years, I’ve been hosting an online dreamboard circle every month and since January, I’ve been leading a small group of magical dreamers through an entire year of dreaming, connecting with the power of the moon’s cycles.

What I know about Dreamboards for sure…

• Dreamboards connect you to your soul.
• Dreamboards are a powerful invitation to your dreams.
• Dreamboards are creative and fun to make.

How do you make a dreamboard?

That’s exactly what I’m going to teach you. In this free online workshop, you’ll learn my magic formula for dreamboard creation. It changes everything!

Creative Living Workshop: How to Make a Dreamboard

• We’ll spend 60 minutes together, live online!
• You’ll learn how to make a dreamboard with intention and intuition.
• You’ll have the opportunity to ask me your dreamboard questions!
• I’m offering the workshop at two different times: Thursday, July 28th at 2:00 pm EST (NOW FULL) and Saturday, July 30th at 11:00 am EST.
• It is absolutely FREE!
• In fact, during this workshop you’ll get a special price if you’d like to join in for the Year of Dreams!

Registration is FREE! And there are two dates available.

Registration is REOPENED!. (I have been approved for an official Livestream channel and that lifted the cap of viewers!)

Click here to Register for How to Make a Dreamboard on Saturday, July 30th at 11:00 am EST.

I look forward to dreaming together!
Oh, and yes, if you want to sign up for both, you absolutely can.

Register for the Saturday July 30th workshop here:

I’m so excited to share the magic of dreamboards with you. Just fill out this form below and you’ll get all the details plus my Creative Living Newsletter!

I’m so excited to share the magic of dreamboards with you. Just fill out this form and you’ll get all the details plus my Creative Living Newsletter!

When I launched the Sparkles e-course this year, my intention was that these little tidbits of creative joy would open up possibilities and start the creative juices flowing for everyone who stepped in and decided to sparkle. I was just delighted when I heard the experience of these two sparkling sisters and I just knew I had to share their story with you. Enjoy! Jamie

Featured Sparkles Clients Margie Kardash and Kath Stewart

Website: Souers du Jour

Tell us a bit about yourselves and what you’re creating in the world.

We are sisters, Margie Kardash and Kath Stewart. We live 600 km apart but for most of our lives we lived in each other’s pockets, spending hours together and at one point, even working in the same office. Seven years ago, Kath moved away and we had to find a new way to connect. Our blog started with a Sunday morning phone call and the usual lament of missing each other, being apart meant we were always saying, “I wish you were here!” “I wish I was there!” We had each purchased our cameras and the creation of our soeurs du jour blog (loosely translated to a sister a day!) was a place for us to share what we were learning with each other. It was fabulous, finally we could see what the other was doing, our photographs became the focus of our posts. We had created a virtual kitchen table where we could sit and share our stories and photos. We never expected that when we joined together in a virtual way that we were also joining an amazing community of women who would become a huge part of our creative lives. We dabble in crafts, decorating and art, we are both definitely photographers at heart but also love writing. We love to cook and entertain, we don’t blog about that much, maybe we should!

What inspired you to sign up for Sparkles?

An internet friend told me I should like your Facebook page, there were lots of fun things happening there. Margie and I had participated in the 12 steps for highly creative women book club with you and really enjoyed it. So we joined and shortly thereafter you announced Sparkles! We like to take e-courses at the same time because it is a way for us to connect and share an experience in a virtual way when we are so far apart. We email, talk on the phone, Skype and send photos of our work back and forth. We motivate each other, “Did you do your homework?” “No, I’m stuck!” “Try this!” It always works. Our one downfall is that life gets in the way and sometimes we don’t follow through with completion of the courses, so when you said Sparkles was only five minutes a day, we were in! Surely to goodness we could finish a course that only took five minutes a day!

What’s been the impact of going through the Sparkles e-course?

We both suffer from resistance and have trouble starting projects, we spend lots of time dreaming and talking but to actually haul out the paints, the camera, the canvas can be a bit of a challenge. Both of us created art pieces during the Sparkles e-course and loved how free we felt to just do something and not worry about perfection. Magically that five minutes a day opened us up a bit at a time and allowed the creative juices to flow.

What have you discovered?

We agreed (we were together last week on a mini-vacation at Kath’s house – yay!) that the most important thing is to choose to do something manageable, something that fits into your life. If you sign up for an eight week intense discovery course at the busiest time of the year chances are you are going to struggle. If you think you’re going to take this weekend and edit all 10,000 photos in your collection, you are likely setting up for disappointment. Sparkles taught us that a wee bit can be enough. (And sometimes it is hard to stop – we don’t want to give anything away but both of us found some of the assignments so much fun that we’ve incorporated them into our routines) Sparkles gave us a chance to try something new each day.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We liked it so much, we’ve already given the e-course as a gift to a family member who we knew would love it as much as we did.

What would you like to celebrate?

Sisterhood of course! We are so lucky to have each other and all the other women we’ve met in our lives who buoy us up, make us laugh, share our tears and fill us with wonder at the strength and creativity that brims within us all, just waiting to spill out if we let it!

Thanks Jamie for letting us tell our story, you are an inspiration indeed!

Registration for Sparkles is always open. To find out more or to start your own sparkling journey, click here.