In my work as a coach, I talk to a lot of people about their dreams, particularly about hidden desires that lurk deep within. You know the ones, those things you’ve always wanted to do but have put on the back burner because it doesn’t seem possible or practical or affordable – that trip to Europe, that MA, becoming a dancer, having your own studio, running your own business.

And often when people share them with me, these dreams are quickly followed by a “but” – but I have a mortgage, children, a partner, responsibilities, limited time, limited money, limited energy, limits of every kind. And when I have paid off my mortgage (my student loan, my credit card debt) and am financially secure (well-off, rich), the children are in school (off to collage, graduated from university, financially independent), my partner has a more secure job (believes in me, gives me permission) and I have more time, money, energy, opportunity then I will….

Do dreams work that way?

The Get-it-Done Guy Stever Robbins lists this as #6 on his Ten Great Cultural Career Lies: I’ll work now and do what I love when I’ve accomplished (made my first million, cured cancer, etc.). Here’s his take:

Dangerous strategy, and I know very few who’ve pulled it off. If you don’t do it, you’re left at mid-life trapped in a career you don’t like, with a non-transferable resume, and a network composed of people who are the last ones in the world who could help you do what you love. But boy, could they help you get even further in a career you despise.

Ouch, that last point really hit home. Every year you don’t pursue what you really want to do, you’re getting more and more firmly entrenched in that place you don’t want to be.

So what do you do?

I am not suggesting you neglect your responsibilities, your bills or your loved ones. But I am suggesting that even in your busy, responsible, debt-ridden, exhausted life, you find a small space for your dreams, for your own personal joy. Just open a little window and consider what might be possible now. If you don’t make room on your plate, the Universe won’t know you’re hungry. It doesn’t have to be big. Take 5 minutes one morning researching violin classes in your neighbourhood. Say out loud to your partner that you think maybe you’d like to go back to school. Read a library book about starting your own business. Stop in at the travel agent at lunch and get a brochure for Paris. Open the door.

When I was training to be a coach, I really wanted to take the certification program. It cost $3500, and I didn’t have it. One day a friend I hadn’t talked to in years invited me to come talk to a group of people at her work about the power of coaching. I ended up with a contract. You’ll never guess how much it was for. Yep, $3,500. I am now a certified coach.

Open your heart to dreaming. Amazing things can happen.

One of the messages I always want to share with the Jamie Ridler Studios community is that you are safe here. But this is not “stay in the harbour” safety, (as they say, “A ship in the harbour is safe but that’s not what ships are for”). This is the safety that allows you to dream, to imagine, to play, to ask, to be, to dare!

This is the safety of the studio.

The studio is a sacred space for creating, for experimenting, for unfolding and becoming. It is a place for bravery.

This is a bit of an odd combination, isn’t it? Bravery and safety? Isn’t it true that in order to be brave you have to be scared? I feel a bit like Yoda when I say, “You will be…. you will be…” It is natural and normal to experience trepidation as you bring your dreams to life, as you risk becoming more, as you experience something new, stretching your capacity, growing your wings. That’s the exquisite work of the studio, whether you’re creating your art or your life.

In the studio, what you do not have to be afraid of is being judged or laughed at or diminished in any way for your vulnerable attempts and honest expression. The studio is a place where you are celebrated for your efforts, supported in your falls and held while you reach for what’s next. It is a safe place to adventure.

The theatre and its rehearsal space taught me this concept of the studio.

I’m a sensitive soul. For most of my life, criticism, scorn, competition, laughter, judgment (including my own) would shut me down completely. It was just too painful! Even as a little girl, when I stepped out onto the ice in my pretty red dress for a first attempt at skating and fell on my bum, the indignity sent me packing, never to return (and that was a feat considering a grew up in Montreal!)

But in the studio it’s different. This is a place to fall on your bum. You’re doing your job when you fall on your bum. Stepping into new territory generally involves multiple spills and mistakes before you start gliding. Creating something magnificent, including yourself, starts in often awkward exploration. It is vulnerable and raw and beautiful and brave and fun. It is all that we are.

This is the kind of studio I am committed to creating here. This is the kind of studio you can create wherever you are. Wherever you are leading, wherever you are stepping in, create a safe space for creativity.

Creating a safe place for creativity is a profound and sacred act.

How might you do that today?

Creative living belongs to everyone. You don’t have to be Mozart to invite music into your life. You don’t have to paint to add colour to your day. You don’t have to be a writer to find your own voice. But of course, you can be.

What is the last creative thing you did?

If your immediate answer was ‘nothing’ or ‘I can’t remember,’ open up the scope of your thinking or focus even more specifically on your day-to-day. If you’re an artist, think outside of the box. Look beyond what you drew or photographed or wrote. Did you whip up a meal out of what you had in the cupboard? That’s creative. Did you write a blog post? That’s creative. Did you choose to wear a particular necklace with a particular shirt? That’s creative too.

Every day you make choices that express your own unique take, your own special reaction to the world and all that goes on within it. Your life is your studio, and you are creating each and every day. You have the opportunity to create joy, passion, beauty, thought, love, whatever it is you think life needs more of, by approaching your life creatively.

I invite you to recognize and grow the creativity in your life in a very simple way. If you’re here, you likely have a journal. If not, maybe today is the day to go out and find that special book that’s going to capture your thoughts, your wonderings and your creativity. Once you have a journal, each day acknowledge something creative that you did. It can be anything. (Despite the rumours, there are no creativity police. You get to decide what your creative act of the day was) Creativity loves to be appreciated and this simple process will let it know that you recognize its presence in your life and that it is welcome.

Jamie’s creative act of the day: I cut 3 tulips from my garden and put them in a little vase by my front door. I love the gentle white against the deep blue wall of our hallway.

Now it’s your turn.

It seems like such a reasonable thing. When planning a new project, a new career, a new adventure, it only makes sense to start from where you are right?

Wrong.

Well, not wrong, exactly. There’s really never a wrong way to start. But here’s the thing. When you start from where you are, you are limited by the current view. When you look out onto the horizon, imagining what’s possible, you can only see to the next hill. From where you are, you can’t help but take into account life as you know it: the amount of money you have in the bank, the supplies you have in your closet, the people you already know, the skills you’ve already mastered, etc. And starting from there, you can only stretch as far as those resources will take you.

With this approach, when you’re deciding whether to go back to school, you look at your bank account, your bills and your commitments to determine whether it’s possible. And of course your current situation and resources don’t fit the new plan. They weren’t designed to. They grew to support the way things are right now, not the way you want things to be next. Know that when you commit to something new, you will start redesigning and creating a life that supports the new “way things are.”

For example, before you were a mom, you didn’t have lists of babysitters at your fingertips. Before you travelled outside of the country for the first time, you didn’t know how to get a passport. But you learned. You gained knowledge, resources, skills and connections that helped you get beyond the limits of what was present to take you somewhere new. You’ve already done this literally hundreds of times. You will do it hundreds more. So why not do it in support of your wildest dreams?

What if you forgot the how and the now and just imagined what would be thrilling, fulfilling, spectacular, memorable, incomparable? What if you gave yourself space and time for some serious daydreaming, imagining that anything was possible? In a world where you could do anything, what would you dream up for your project, your business, your life? Would you travel farther, reach higher, risk more, take more time, touch more people? Would you pursue the same thing at all or try something entirely different? What do you want to do?

These days there are lots of messages out there reminding us to get present, to be where we are. And I know what I’m saying may seem to be counter to that that but really, it isn’t. It’s just a simple reminder that instead of focusing on the ‘now’ of our situation, we can be present with our spirit and discover what she most wants to do. And if you let your spirit take the lead, instead of your circumstances, imagine the adventures you’ll go on!

We each have our own personal symbology, the archetypes, shapes, animal guides, objects that hold a deeper meaning, a message beyond the literal. We find these images appearing again and again in our stories, our paintings, our dreams, our photographs, our jewellery, our homes, our lives.

Despite their repeated appearances, we can often be unaware of the conversations going on between our symbology and our selves. We figure we simply like cats or tulips or tigers. But what is it about these things? Why tigers? Why turquoise? Why bowls?

Our collection of symbols is a powerful expressions of our spirit. It is a language unique to us and serves as a profound connection to our selves, our aesthetic and also to the Universe. Deepening our awareness of our symbology helps us infuse our creative lives with authenticity and sacredness.

On Pinterest I recently came across this wonderful journal page. Written across the top is “These are my symbols. What are yours?” Below, the artist has shared her symbols, drawing them out and adding a few words of explanation (e.g. “Cup – comfort, home fulfillment”) What a gorgeous exercise, a powerful acknowledgment of what is meaningful in her life.

Create a Symbol Journal or Journal Page

Create a special page or section in your journal where you can gather your symbols. You may find you’d even like to dedicate an entire journal to exploring your personal symbology.

List your recurring symbols in words, drawings, photographs or snippets from magazines. Use what you have on hand and what is easy for you. Don’t let supplies or perfectionism get in the way of the process. Go ahead and draw an owl as best you can. Trust that you and the owl will know one another better; that is the key.

Write about what each symbol means to you.

For example, if one of your recurring symbols is a lighthouse…

• What are your memories of lighthouses?
• What stories do you know about lighthouses?
• What do you associate with lighthouses?
• When did you start noticing lighthouses?
• What does a lighthouse mean to you?

If you’re get stuck, do a Google search (e.g. “symbolism of lighthouses” “meaning of lighthouses”). Trust your own reactions to what you discover.

Getting to know your own personal symbology is an ongoing creative practice that will allow you to understand and express your true self in more and more powerful ways.

And if you don’t know your symbols yet, a regular practice of dreamboarding can help you find them. Over time, I have been able to see how again and again certain forms and figures find their way to my boards. This has been my primary tool for connecting with my own sacred symbols.

Some of My Personal Symbols

• Arms upstretched, standing tall
• Owls, Bears, Elephant, Turtles, Gorillas (my instinct is to group these together, feeling like they are connected to deep wisdom and age)
• Horses, Falcons
• Antlers
• Trees
• Stars
• Spheres
• The pelvis
• Bowls

What are some of your personal symbols? What do they mean to you?