How To Follow Your Dreams

Today I have something incredible in store for you! It's all about following your dreams. You've already figured out what your purpose is, so now we're gonna arm you with the how. (Get excited!)

I'm incredibly honoured to have Jenni from Story of My Life here today to tell you all about it! This is a girl whose blog has grown exponentially with her charm, wit, and sheer dedication. If you've been following along in her journey, you've witnessed the raw talent she has as a photographer as her business, J. Noel Photography, begins to flourish. This girl's got grit!

As someone who's in the thick of this following your dreams bit, Jenni has been an inspiration to me, and now she's here today, dishing out the straight-up honest truth about what she's learned in her own life.

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Allie asked me to write a bit about following your dreams, I suppose because she thinks I'm good at it. I don't know how good at it I really am (most of the time I feel like I'm just stumbling along, following a little glimmer of hope and light I see off in the distance and believing it will pay off in a big way for me someday), but I'll happily share what I've learned along my journey so far. This is my truth.

1. Dream following has to start with an intense passion and a natural aptitude. Weirdly enough, that intense passion and natural aptitude, for me, was blogging. I've had this passion for years now, even a couple years before I actually started my current blog. I followed it, that thing that made me super happy and fulfilled me and that I was good at, and I poured countless hours of my life into it on the simple faith that doing something I loved this much could only lead to amazing things. And it has. It absolutely has. The story definitely isn't over yet, but I know today I have done the right thing.

The natural aptitude thing is so important too, though. When I was a kid, I used to want to be a famous singer when I grew up. Thank God my dad told me you have to have talent to be a famous singer, because who knows, I might have wasted years of my life on voice lessons and American Idol auditions and still had no natural aptitude. My point is, don't waste your life following a dream you think you should have, or a dream you have no skill for. Follow where your heart and your head and your God-given talents lead you. They don't lead you wrong.

2. Dream following is a flexible thing. Sometimes one dream leads you to another. Taking that first step of blind faith can be hard. In my case, I decided to pretty much be a full time blogger in lieu of getting a "real" job, even though I knew that it would probably be many years before I made even as much as I could make waiting tables at a busy restaurant. But I followed my passion and my aptitude, and my blogging gig has lead me to this other, beautiful passion for photography, which is turning out to be potentially much more profitable. Taking steps in a positive direction, following a glimmer of hope and a glimpse of a dream, opens the doors for things you never even knew you loved or were good at. It's a way cool thing.

3. Understand the gap. Own it.

4. Dream following is accomplished in the day-in and day-out, getting your hands dirty, doing the hard things other people won't. It is accomplished in the present moment. Never in the future. It is accomplished in the decision you make right now. To get your business cards designed instead of reading blogs. To sacrifice lunch dates to pay for your website design. To get up at 6:30 AM instead of 8:30, because you know you do your best work in the morning, if you can just get yourself out of bed. To make goals and ways to constantly remind yourself of them. To wake up even earlier to have time to mediate on those goals. To involve other people - to let all your friends and family know about your goals and how they can help you achieve them, even it just means understanding that you'll be poor for a year while you get your business off the ground.

All of this "in the present" work will look different for everyone. But this is the hardest lesson of all. FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS IS SOMETIMES HARD WORK. Work that isn't fun. It isn't miserable, because you know it's contributing to and part of your dream, but it IS hard. That's what separates the successes from the failures. Willingness to do what others won't or can't. Willingness to train yourself where you are weak, to be different and be strong. In my case, I suffer terribly with FOCUS. I could have three times as much done for my blog and my photography business right now if I could just stay focused and not waste time throughout the day. So I am retraining myself, slowly but surely, to be focused. Some methods have worked, some haven't. For me, this is where the hardest work comes in. For you, it might be something different. But you can do it.

That's my best advice for now. :) Come visit me over at Story of My Life or j. noel photography anytime. Thanks for having me Allie, and thanks to YOU for reading!

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An Announcement!

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You know how they say "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!"? Well, I feel like this particular day is a pretty big one in the Life of Allie. (Drumroll, please!)

I'm so excited to welcome you to Between Dreams! A brand spankin' new site to get your juices flowin', your mindset shiftin', and your heart racing. (Oh yea!) 

The concept behind Between Dreams has been stirring around in my brain for quite some time and now it's reality. A reality that would not have been possible without the skills of one talented lady - Bobbi! (Hop on over to her blog and say hello!) She is someone who needs some major props for taking my cluttered ideas, sorting them out, and molding them into this simple and beautiful space.

I've kept some goodies from the past that you might have missed so kick off your shoes, put on some good tunes, and dig deep into those archives!

While you're here, please remember to update all your links! I wouldn't want you to miss a beat! The future is looking pretty bright - take this as your official invitation to come along for the ride.

P.S. Please bear with us as we work out the kinks. Any feedback you may have is not only welcomed but encouraged! I really hope you enjoy this sweet little spot as much as I do! xo

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Connected, but alone?

It's no question that technology is one of the greatest things introduced into our lives. It has changed the way we live forever. It makes our lives just a little bit better, easier, and keeps people from losing touch with each other. If I had a dime for every time I've overhead somebody say "What did people do before Google?", I could fill an Olympic sized swimming pool.

Technology can also be our greatest downfall. And if you have the time, take a moment out of your day to watch this video. I've mentioned my love of TED talks in the past, and this particular video is up there among my favourites. Why? Because it makes you think. And it doesn't just make you think about some arbitrary subject that doesn't really affect you, it makes you think about the way you live your life.

Human relationships are rich, and they're messy, and they're demanding and we clean them up with technology.

And when we do, one of the things that can happen is that we sacrifice conversations for mere connection.

We short-change ourselves.

We're developing the habit of using our cellphones as a crutch. Myself included. Anytime I've had a free moment to myself, I use it to catch up on social networking sites - waiting in line at the checkout, the doctor's office, the bus stop, waiting for a friend. We use our phones in awkward social situations, and even when we're just spending time with friends. It's an extension of us.

But are we sacrificing our relationships because of it? Or worse yet - ourselves? We've become use to forming thoughts in 140 characters or less that the idea of having an actual real conversation is daunting.

How many times have you gotten together with a group of friends and looked around only to notice every person you're with is attached to their phone? While texting, we have the chance to choose our words wisely and even go back and edit what we're sending. A conversation happens in real-time, and we lose the control over what comes out of our mouths. Our emotions run rampant and that loss of control is scary.

We're expecting more and more from technology and less from each other. And it has to change. For the sake of our friends, spouses, and each other. Because when you connect on a level that isn't so superficial, that is when we really find ourselves.

As much as I see this shift happening in the way we socialize with each other, the importance of being alone is just as valuable. When was the last time you sat alone with your thoughts? I don't mean sat alone and watched TV, surfed the net, or even listened to music. I mean, totally and completely alone. 

I think the need to fill our days with "busyness" - tasks, goals, chores, errands, etc comes from the pressure to do everything. My generation in particular is especially ambitious. We want to do it all and we want to do it right now. Whenever we have a spare moment, we're searching for ways to fill it. We can never just "be". We've started developing ways to fill the void of loneliness. But we need to start thinking of being alone as a good thing, and make room for it. By teaching ourselves and future generations that being alone isn't important is only setting all of us up to feel dependent and lonely.

A great tip from the video is a simple one that each and every one of us can use - create sacred spaces and reclaim them for conversation. Whether it's the kitchen or the living room. Sebastian and I have even started setting up a day where put away technology and focus just on each other.

It's time we stop removing ourselves from our own feelings by going into our phones. It's time to be present in our daily lives. Turn off that television program, put down your phones, and turn to the person next to you and talk to them. Talk about your dreams, talk about life, hell, talk about anything.

Make this life the life we can love.

Just some thoughts on this rainy Monday afternoon. :)