Being of a certain age, I am doing a lot of reflecting on the life I have created thus far and the life I am challenged to live. Giving birth to your dreams can be both challenging and rewarding.
I have always said,"I gave birth to my dreams the day I gave birth to each one of my daughters." They are each so unique in their personalities, their aspirations, their talents, and the lives they have chosen to live. They are my pride and joy. The best job I've ever had or ever will have is having been their mother.
Raising children has been my greatest gift, both to myself and to the everyone that has ever had the pleasure of knowing my girls . That is not to say, raising my girls has always been easy, like when my middle daughter went off to Ireland for a semester of college and decided to shave her head, or when my youngest decided to choose a first boyfriend who was covered in tattoos all over his arms and legs (not that my own mother was happy when I brought my long haired hippie boyfriend home to meet her), or when my eldest daughter decided to tell the world her mother cheats at Scrabble on Facebook. Nevertheless, my dream was always to have children and I have not been disappointed.
Giving birth to dreams is very much like giving birth. There is the excitement of the dream itself, the waiting for the dream to come to fruition and, always, a transition which can be painful but necessary. I guess I must be writing this for myself and for everyone who has ever had dreams and the courage to manifest them. As with raising children, sacrifices will be made, hard work will follow, tough decisions will be made.
My girls have long left the nest and Mr. Honey and I are forging new trails and dreaming new dreams. With a new business before us and the challenges that come with being self employed we are in a new transition phase. Sometimes I feel like a child, kicking and screaming all the way, wanting things to be easy and comfortable, but they're not. I cling to routine and doing things the same way. The thing is, you cannot expect different results if you do things the same way. I guess I'm rambling now, but the point is, I never want to quit having dreams because I'm too afraid of hard work and tough decisions and painful transitions.
All I want are the sweet surprises that life offers when we're willing to live out loud.
13 comments:
You might kick and scream for awhile, but I've never known you to give up the fight! You find ways to make peace with the new challenges, you always have. You have buoyancy,nothing keeps you down for long, right? Keep living out your dreams, keep living out loud!! Now that your girls have flown it's time for your wings to open up and fly!Ok, I'll stop preaching...don't know what got me started!
You have me in tears, mama. You are such a beauty. And so courageous. I love you dearly and feel so grateful that you gave us the nourishment that makes it possible to face the challenges in the world to make our own dreams come true.
Hi Kathy! Oh, this was an excellent post! I too have dreams and I loved what you said - we need to live our lives outloud! I love that! I know your girls are so blessed to have you as their mother! :)
Be a sweetie and thanks for popping in to see me,
Shelia ;)
Kathy, I think this is one of the most beautiful posts you've ever written, and I believe that your dreams are going to come true. As you said, some of them have come true right before your eyes... your girls and your marriage to Mr. Honey to name four... and I just believe, knowing you, that the rest are going to come to fruition, too. But in order to enjoy the full adventure on a ship, you have to lost sight of the familar shore for a bit.
XO,
Sheila :-)
Sorry about the typo in that last sentence... it should be "lose sight." XO
Oh dearest Kathy,
WOW! First of all, I want to thank you for coming over to stay a bit at my pink post. The tub....ahhhhh....the truffles, the books, the peace. EVen when we are down, there is beauty around us, and it looks to me that your theme is similar to mine. I have no children, yet like YOU, I have given birth to many new facets of my life, and desire to give more life to dreams. I won't say that one is harder than the other, but certainly raising children has got to be such a difficult but rewarding thing to do. To give birth to dreams of literary and artistic dimensions like in my case is extremely lonely. But all in all, beauty is around us and anyone of us can create it, any day, every day without much skill. Thank you and you are certainly welcome ANY TIME!!!!! Anita
Wow! You are a star, a wonerful mom, a fabulous friend! Anyone that knows you is blessed!
XO
oh Kathleen i think you just gor for them, the rejections and disappointment are hard but when something good moving toward those dreams happen it's amazing! my children are still young so i have all those years ahead but they are such a gift and i think they'll be my greatest contribution to the world. hugs, susan
Got a heart flutter when I read this I have had lots of heart ache for the last few months and your message gave me a lil push to keep tryin.Thank You
What a touching post my friend...thanks for sharing..dreams do come true..if you don't dream how can they come true? Hugs.
What a nice and beautiful post. To grow hurts, but it's good to grow. We don't always want to be in the same place all the time. Our lives would get to boring. It's good to spread our wings! Good luck with your new business.
Nothing in the
world prepares
you for the love
that you feel as
a mother.....And
then you KNOW what
your mother felt,
and her mother, etc.
and it's a connection
to the universe that
you suddenly understand
and always have. Good
luck as you struggle
to make the rest of your
dreams come true!!
xx Suzanne
Thanks Aunt Kathy! It is so great to see our parents/aunts and uncles still growing and changing and pursuing. What a great example for us! :) Now go and catch up on my last post!
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