Sometimes we give up on our dreams, life just gets in the way.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  Sometimes if we don’t do things when we say we are going to do them, or want to do them, we give up.  It just doesn’t have to be that way.

Take time to explore what really brings you joy

If there is something you would really like to try, do or experience, but somehow never get around to it, consider how you could slowly bring that into your life, tiny steps at a time.  Maybe there is a different path than the one you thought you had to tread to get there.

It doesn’t help that we may judge ourselves against what others are seemingly achieving within the infinity of social media posts.  No one really knows the reality of another’s life, I learnt that lesson well when I worked within mediation.  It was also during this time, nearly 20 years ago, that I was gifted a beautiful Pebbles mug at work because of my then Pebbles Tearoom dream, which has partly inspired my new Pebbles House project (please note this has no connection with the above public house – I just wanted a photo of an interesting door that I had taken myself and, as often happens, something in the photo led me to discover a different and inspiring story – a successful campaign to save the pub.)

There are so many opportunities in the world.   It can either seem overwhelming or we may not even see what is there, as we are too taken up with other commitments.  It was when I was at my lowest, when I thought I could do nothing after redundancy, that I had the opportunity to attend a free community creative writing course.  I ended up going to university, along with special friends from the writing course, and we all chose to study Social Sciences.  Going to university was something I had once thought I might do if I won the lottery, but I never thought it would happen.  I absolutely loved everything about it (apart from exams and deadlines!) and it became one of the best experiences of my life.

We can give up and forget about what is really important and in the grand scheme of things what is really important can be little things that mean much to us, we just need to recognise that.  When I was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia back in 2015, just after I had started my second year at university, I had a really tough time getting through treatment.  It really brought home to me that it was the special moments of connection with family and friends that meant the most, together with living mindfully, and taking each day at a time, to savour the beauty of life and nature.  It was also during this time that creativity really helped me endure what I needed to, it was a very challenging time.

Joy can come from the most unexpected places, just allow yourself to dream.  Maybe in your childhood or early teenage days there was something you thought you would really like to do ‘when you grew up’.  Did you do it?  Is the underlying wish still there?  Perhaps you may think it was just for the child in you but how might you bring that into your life now – if that is what you would like to do.  Or maybe this triggers a story you could capture from your past that you would like to record in some way, whether by writing a short story or representing it in some form of art.

Pebbles House is taking me back to enjoying simple things.  Playful things that bring back my imagination.  I have struggled to write anything much in the past few years, yet in 2020 I was attending a novel writing course and enjoying the process, especially the research.  I ended up with characters, places and a structure that I was bringing to life.  It had a touch of mystery that even I, as the writer, did not yet know the answers to and the process was both therapeutic and a journey of discovery and connection.

I hope you will join me on my Pebbles House adventure and that it may enable you to explore and uncover your own dream project, however big or small.  In essence, for me this is a creative writing project that may result in another book, but it has the scope to be so much more and one day maybe Pebbles House may exist in reality, and not necessarily by the sea, thereby bringing the sea to those who are unable to physically experience walking along a sandy beach with the waves sloshing rhythmically on the shore, and with a salty breeze blowing through their hair.  

I recall the days when my journey to work involved walking beside thunderous waves, sometimes battling the wind and rain too.  Through the many photos I have taken, I am able to re-live that experience and it brings a good feeling back.  I experienced the fleeting magical presence of rainbows and at the end of the day there was nothing like being able to sit and enjoy a stunning sunset.  In my mind, I am at Pebbles House now looking out onto that sunset.

I hope to see you here again soon and perhaps you might like to follow my Pebbles House Facebook Page.