Every dream begins with a desire.

If you're unsure about your dream, a question like, "What do I want out of life?" can be an excellent starting point to clarify your ideas.

Admittedly, this may seem like a daunting existential query, but if you had to summarize it in just one or two sentences, what would they be? Go ahead and write them down.

Here's my response:

"My dream is to create a space of beauty and natural harmony on this earth that gives back more than I could ever take, for all to enjoy."

This is my aspiration, my desire.

Once you have identified your desire, you can begin to visualize what it would look like in the real world for you.

There's no wrong way to do this, so let your imagination run wild.

What do you see?

What do you feel?

Who is with you?

What are you doing?

Write it all out. Remember, this is your life, so dream big.

Here's what I came up with:

A vast forest, with patches of pasture nestled in the valley of a mountain range. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the scent of rich soil lingers after a heavy rain.

I envision a small community of people living, working, eating, and playing together. They radiate joy and gratitude for the simplicity and abundance of their lives.

They harmonize with the changing seasons around them. Spring brims with hope and energy for a fresh start. The long summer days are spent outdoors, working diligently, playing in the river, and savoring the endless daylight. In the fall, they harvest, preserve, hunt, and forage to prepare for the cold months ahead. Winter brings rest, coziness, hardy food, and the creation of crafts, tools, and clothing.

This is a place that not only enriches the lives of those who inhabit it but also welcomes others to learn, escape, and experience the peace of simple living. We share our values and abundance with the local community and the world.

This is a condensed version, but feel free to write as much or as little as your inspiration guides you.

It's worth noting that this all sounds very idyllic, and that's intentional.

It's a dream, so let's not worry too much about realism at this point. We'll save that for the next section.

Making Your Vision Practical

Now that I have identified my dream and written out my ideal vision, I can begin to get realistic about what it will take to achieve it. Through this process, we may find that our actions evolve, and our dream may change.

Let's take an element from my dream, make it practical, and turn it into an actionable solution, walking through it together.

"A large forest, with patches of pasture nestled in the valley of a mountain range. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the scent of rich soil lingers after a heavy rain."

Reality: This seems like a significant amount of land, and land can be expensive. I'll need to find a way to earn enough money to purchase it.

Possible Actions:

• Start working and saving.

• Create a business plan and pitch the idea to investors.

• Launch a crowdfunding campaign to share our vision with the public.

• Rally enough friends and family interested in sharing the cost.

• Explore securing a substantial loan.

After identifying these tangible paths to make a part of this dream a reality, we must consider which align best with our values and practicality:

Perhaps finding a venture capitalist could be the most feasible since it's a real estate-backed venture. However, they might demand a large ownership stake, prioritize profits, and not align with our vision.

While involving friends and family might be ideal, we may not have enough willing to commit to such an alternative way of living.

Crowdfunding could be an option, but we might not yet have a broad enough reach to make it effective.

Banks may be reluctant to offer us loans due to our extended unemployment.

It may not appear very promising, but it's essential to remember that our dream will seem distant at this stage.

If people get this far, this is usually where they stop.

Instead, let's revisit our dream and analyze it in terms of the values it represents.

Extracting The Values From The Vision

“A large forest, with patches of pasture nestled in the valley of a mountain range. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, The smell of rich soil after a strong rain.”

This suggests having a strong value for living in nature, something achievable anywhere.

“I can see a small community of people living, working, eating and playing together. They are joyous, and grateful for such simplicity and abundance.”

So I value living as part of a community. I want to be part of something bigger than just myself, or my immediate family. There a plenty of places that already practice living like this, and community can be cultivated anywhere.

“This is a place that not only benefits those that live there, but also invites people in to learn, to escape, to experience the peace of simple living. We share our values & abundance with the local community, as well as the world.’

I want to exchange knowledge with others. I want to live a simple life and share my experience of that with the world because I believe there are so many people that feel similarly.

Actions Within the Values

In many ways, we are living in alignment with the values embedded in this vision.

We wanted to live closer to nature, so we moved into a rural home with plenty of land to use and learn in. We wake up to the sounds of the birds and sunlight peeking through the many spaces of our home. We eat the veggies and fruit that comes from the land. There is not much of a divide between us and the natural environment. Our home is also the home of many reptiles and insects.

We wanted to experience being part of an intentional community, so we live a walk away from Pun Pun, and take part in any activities we can. We share in our food, our labor, our homes, and our friendship.

We created a YouTube channel to share our journey, our vision, and our experiences with the world, and also build a community of individuals with similar values.

You see, there are actions we can make everyday that align with the values within in our dream, which will ultimately lead us closer to it.

So what is your dream? And what are the smaller actions you can start making today to align with the values within it?

Hold It Loosely

This doesn't mean we should forget about the vision we've written down. It remains the ultimate goal guiding our decisions.

However, we must recognize that we can already live out the most important aspects of that dream in alternative ways.

A dream isn't a tangible place in reality; it's a fictional aspiration, a mirage. It will never materialize exactly as we see it in our mind's eye. But within our desire and vision for our lives lies the essence of what matters most to us an individuals.

By anchoring ourselves in our values and aligning our actions with them, we embark on a path that resonates deeply with our true selves.

In a very practical way we start moving towards our dream through these actions, step by step, inch by inch.

But remember, a dream is not just a destination but a lifelong pursuit, ever-evolving and adaptable.

So, continue to nurture your dreams, discover your values, and let them light your way on this journey. The pursuit of your dream is, in itself, a fulfilling and meaningful adventure to be enjoyed.

Things I Enjoyed This Week

🎬 Video - The Dutch Farmer is a great off-grid homesteading channel that I find myself constantly inspired by. A young couple bought a piece of land in Portugal and have done some incredible work turning it into a permaculture paradise in a pretty short amount of time. This video basically recaps their process over the course of a year. I can only hope to have the same opportunity one day.

🎤 Audio Lecture - Something Laurel has been really enjoying and learning from this week has been “Nonviolent Communication Training” by Marshall Rosenberg. It’s not something I have dove into yet, but she seems to be having a lot of revelatory moments brought on by the teachings in this series. In summary, it is a process of expressing our feelings, needs and requests in a compassionate way. It is often described as a new language that is counter to the way we have been conditioned to express ourselves.

Our Video This Week

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