Story of the Week - Dreams of Tea
May 31, 2009
The Charming Tea Bar
Last year a wonderful thing happened, a new Tea Bar came to my town of Chestnut Hill. I LOVE tea and so I was very excited and I went racing down there at 8 AM on the first day it opened!
I loved the Tea Bar right from the start. It’s an adorable charming place with a lovely little garden. What I found was not just wonderful tea, but a wonderful tea creator who had actually quit her high paying corporate job and gone out on her own to do something more fulfilling. A woman after my own heart!
Tea Bar Owner, Pam
I loved Pam immediately and I began to regularly frequent the Tea Bar. I made it my personal mission to try every single tea, but I failed miserably at this because I got to love certain teas and couldn’t move past them. Oh well, the life of a tea taster can be fickle like the muses themselves.
Pam and I became good friends as we share alot in common. We are both entrepreneurs who care alot about doing business well and creating something good for our community. I offered to tell stories to promote the Tea Bar and Pam agreed and we began our first venture of the “Summer Storytelling Series” which was quite a hit.
Storytelling at Tea Bar
All of my wacky story characters were able to come out and play at the Tea Bar. Folks enjoyed the presence of Madam Olga, Psychic to the Stars who did Tea leaf readings. Madam Olga is a bit fiesty however and maybe some folks got more than they bargained for when they asked questions!
We also had a visitation from Zizzi Love Goddess. The Tea Bar was filled with the scent of love and chocolate and afterwards one of the audience members suggested that a tea be created in the love goddesses honor. Little did I know that Pam was listening from the other room and a week or so later she called me to come try something. Much to my astonishment, she had created a very special “Love Goddess Tea” blend which had all of my favorite ingredients! And she didn’t even know what I liked.
The Love Goddess Blend is Lavendar Earl Grey tea with rose petals. Wow! It knocks your heart right open. She packaged it up beautifully with a heart shaped label and it’s been a hit at the Tea Bar ever since.
In case, you’re interesting in tasting it, you can find the special Love Goddess blend here: https://thehillteaonline.com/handblended_tea_store.html#
The best part about my friendship with Pam though is that she is an amazing business woman who really puts alot of time and energy into making a great business and serving her community at the same time. In addition to sponsoring my Storytelling performances, she has hosted shows of artists and musicians, plus hosted workshops, networking events, wine classes and created her own book of tea recipes. Talk about a go-getter, Pam is unstoppable! I love going down there for tea because every week she has a new idea. And because I know she puts her ideas into action, it’s alway fun to see what she’s ‘brewing’ up (couldn’t resist the pun).
This is a woman who took a risk and went for her dreams. It’s not easy to leave the corporate world in general, but very few would have the courage to leap into a dream about tea and make it work, but she has. We’ve been talking for awhile about how she can use this successful business model to help other women build their own dreams.
I’m proud of you Pam for what you stand for in the world and for taking a risk! Thank you for being who you are - a wonderful listener, the tea blender extraordinaire and a good friend.
If you’re reading this and you’re inspired to know more about Pam and her dream of tea, check out her blog at: http://www.thehillteabarblog.blogspot.com/
- Tea Love
And definitely try the Love Goddess brew, it’s magical. Love definitely comes in through tea :>)
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Story Video - Tea is Love
May 31, 2009
I love this beautiful short video about Darjeeling ‘first flush’ tea. Darjeeling is a very special tea which is called the champagne of teas, grown in West Bengal India. It’s very touching to hear how much spirit is related to tea. I love the phrase, “Tea is love, enjoy tea.” Here’s to finding the spirit of love through tea. Read also our story of the week about Tea Artisan, Pam McLaughlin.
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My Beautiful Town
May 30, 2009
My Town
I live in a beautiful little town. It’s name is Chestnut Hill and it’s actually part of Philadelphia. But my town is unique and stands out in the crowd!
I love living in Chestnut Hill because it is quaint and picturesque and reminds me of a little European village. We even have cobblestone streets here because we we used to have a trolly.
Our Main Street
The main street is wonderful here with lots of shops and restaurants. You can get just about any kind of food or drink that you’d want which is great since I love food! Our town is very friendly and you can get to know people quickly. The shopkeepers are wonderful and they treat you with real caring. They even know you by name which definitely doesn’t happen in a mall.
My dog Miss Sweetie
Chestnut Hill is the most wonderful place to live. I’m lucky to live here. But if you don’t and you want to come visit, I assure you that you’ll have a great time. There’s so much to see and so much to do here and the weather is always great (just kidding). It’s typical Pennsylvania weather.
- Our Train Station
Hey and it’s easy to get to Chestnut Hill too! We have two different train stations.
Oh and by the way, I was born right here in Chestnut Hill Hospital and even though I didn’t live here all my life, I really am home here on the Hill.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning a little bit about my wonderful town. Coming up, I’m going to be featuring the great businesses and businesses owners that make this town special and unique.
Stay tuned!
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How Stories Change the World
May 29, 2009
- Plus Ultra - there’s more beyond
If you want to know how stories truly change the world, read this:
Plus Ultra - “There’s More Beyond”
Plus ultra is Latin for further beyond or more beyond. It is the national motto of Spain, adopted from the personal motto of Charles V of Spain.
The origin of the motto is closely associated with the Pillars of Hercules, which according to Roman mythology were built by Hercules, near the Straits of Gibraltar, which marked the edge of the known world. According to mythology the pillars bore the warning “Non plus ultra, ” - nothing further beyond, serving as a warning to sailors and navigators to go no further.
It is believed that the young Charles V adopted Plus ultra as his motto at the suggestion of his doctor and personal advisor Luigi Marliano. The idea was to encourage him to ignore the ancient warning and encourage him to take risks and go further beyond.
The motto was used to encourage Spanish explorers to go beyond the Pillars of Hercules and on to the New World.
Annie’s comments: I love this story because it shows us how stories literally create the ground we stand on. Often when I say that stories change the world, I imagine that some people are thinking, “Oh there she goes again with her big thinking about the world.”
But it’s true.
Stories literally change our reality and thus change our future. If the King of Spain hadn’t been advised by his wise Italian doctor (of course he was Italian!), then we might not be here today. Because the Pillars of Hercules were thought to be the end of the known world, this one statement that there’s more beyond, literally opened up King Charles thinking and thus opened the gates to the new world.
Before this time, people literally believed and told the story that there was no more beyond. Lucky for us he took the risk and changed the story!
How does this play out in our own lives? Where are we believing in what the world tells us about reality? Do we believe everything the news tells us for example?
I used this story to inspired a group of business people several months ago and asked them this question - “Do you want to stop yourselves at the edge of the known world (meaning just what the media tells us for example), or do you want to go beyond and create a new reality?
Without this story, it would have been hard, if not impossible to impress upon them the power of our thinking to create our reality.
Is this just positive thinking or is it actually how we shape our future? You decide. Try it for yourself. Take on this motto for a day and see what happens to your reality.
Every time you find something that you think can’t be done, just pretend that you’re at the edge of your known world, at your own personal Pillars of Hercules. Then say to yourself, “there’s more beyond.” Or if you like to sound fancy, feel free to bandy about the phrase “Plus Ultra”. It definitely sounds like you’re in the know.
I’m thankful for all of the stories that have shaped our world, and allow me to sail new seas everyday.
Who knows what new seas you might sail into. Let me know what happens.
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Story of the Week, Top Business Skills For Our Future, Part 1
May 25, 2009
This is part one of a three part series:
This week I asked top business leaders both from my local community and around the world this question: “Everyone is concerned about how to survive in these tough times, but YOU are someone that lives bigger than just these times. When you peer into the future, what is the number one skill you see that we need for the future?”
The responses that I got were very inspiring. Feel free to pass them on to your networks. We can never have enough inspiration, especially in these times.
From Robert Dilts, Santa Cruz, CA
During tough times, we have a choice. Either we develop the skill to find our “inner zone of excellence” and re-energize by connecting with the strength within, or we regress into survival strategies that weaken our position further. The inner zone of excellence is a key part of what is known as the “inner game” of business. The concept of the “inner game” was developed by Timothy Gallwey as a way of helping people to achieve excellence in various sports, music and also business and management training. Fundamental to the inner game is our ability to stay in a high performance state when confronted with difficult circumstances.
Many challenges will present themselves in challenging times: fear of the unknown (i.e. what will happen tomorrow?), dealing with loss (i.e losing a job, a home, a dream etc.) and a general sense of vulnerability (i.e how can I succeed when circumstances are so difficult)? These can plunge us into unhelpful survival strategies: attack/blame, escape/submission or rigidity/paralysis. This frequently results in temporary regression or inertia. On the contrary, we can develop the skills to ground in our “inner zone of excellence” and feel:
- No fear of failure or anxiety about achieving our goal
- A state of focused spaciousness in the mind and relaxed readiness in the body
- Performance coming without effort and without having to think about it
This allows us to most effectively deal with dangers and yet still recognize and take advantage of opportunities that emerge during times of change and crisis.
Founder NLP University, Dilts Strategy Group, Dilts Consulting
http://www.nlpu.com
From Bea Fields, Southern Pines, NC
I think the biggest skill we are all going to need in the future is the ability to collaborate so that we can then innovate across global borders. Most people are still in the mindset of solo thinking and operating out of the industrial revoluation where hierarchical/one mind/one country structures worked. But, we are now a virtual, global world, and we need to all come together to begin a radical innovation process so that we can create jobs that will provide both employment and sustainability. This is going to require that everyone check their egos at the door and come together to harness the power of the mastermind so that the innovative proces can move us forward with lightening speed.
President, Bea Fields Companies, Inc.
http://beafields.com
From Nick LeClere, London, UK
I don’t think the future emphasis is about skills anymore - skills have a ’sellby’ date and they are rendered useless by fast moving situations, just like knowledge in the knowledge economy is subject to constant change - the best way to do something yesterday, is no longer the best way to do it tomorrow - e.g banking! Also typical skills training is subject to huge and outrageous levels of waste, with research showing that more than 75% of training leads to little or no change of attitude or behaviors back in the workplace! What is the point? We have to go to a higher inner level than skills. In my view, Consciousness in business, is the next developmental challenge - conscious organizations and conscious leadership.
Within Consciousness there are various qualities and personal attributes that make someone ‘great’. Nuturing qualities like courage, optimism, certainty and knowing, leads to lasting fulfillment and personal transformation.
If you were to push me hard, for a future proof skill set, then above all else, it is perhaps the ability to grasp the bigger picture - to raise the level of thinking, again and again, especially under challenge, to be able to reveal the interconnected nature of all things, that often looks separate on the surface, or are often hidden from normal view. To then create new solutions at completely new levels of ‘thinking’ and ‘being’.
Program Designer, Change the World Corp.
www.changetheworldcorp.com
From Pam McLaughlin, Chestnut Hill, PA
“Vision” is the number one skill I see for the future. If we can stay focused on the long-term vision, even when we feel like giving up, we will always come out on top. In the book, “Reframing Organizations” by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal, they discuss the hundreds of studies completed on leadership success over the past 30 years. There was one common trait for success that the majority of the studies determined: “Vision”. We can “refraim” our personal successes in the same way we address our business.
Owner, The Hill Tea Bar
www.thehillteabar.com
From Gavin Meikle, Southhampton, UK
My immediate answer to Annie’s question is simple and clear. We all need to learn the skill of loving ourselves. What benefits are likely to acrue from developing this particular skill? Three words come to mind; peace, acceptance and freedom.
Peace seems a rare and precious thing as there is clearly a lot of conflict in this world but I don’t believe most of it is reported on the news. I’m talking about internal conflict. That interminable battle between how we are and what we think others think of us. Our need for acceptance by others causes us to act in ways that are not authentic or honest and that incongruence causes pain.
Being able to truly love ourselves and in so doing, give ourselves the acceptance that we erroneously seek from others would, I believe, allow us to break that dependency forever and discover the freedom to be the best we can be. Freedom to accept others for who they are is also the key to ending the bickering and fighting that goes on between families, between organizations and between nations. Loving yourself is the beginning of a new world.
Speaker, Trainer and Human Being,Inter-Active Co .
www.inter-activ.co.uk
Read on to continue the survey in Parts 2 and 3
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Top Business Skills For Our Future, Part 2
May 25, 2009
This is the second in my three-part survey of leaders from around the world who answered this question: “Everyone is concerned about how to survive in these tough times, but YOU are someone that lives bigger than just these times. When you peer into the future, what is the number one skill you see that we need for the future?”
From Doug Lipman, Edmond, OK
The number one skill I see needed for the future of our society is the ability to create new social structures based on mutually beneficial relationships. Why? Our existing social structures are largely based on profit. This can’t be sustained indefinitely, since profit demands an exponential increase (e.g.,8% per year, which amounts to doubling every 10 years), whereas actual value increases more slowly and some resources are fixed or even declining (e.g., fossil fuels). In effect, we’re working a “pyramid scheme” on the world. Such schemes always self-destruct in time.
What new structures do we need? We can’t predict what new societal structures will arise as the existing ones crumble. But relationships based on trust and respect will survive. In time, they can even evolve into new institutions.
So what does it take to create new social structures? First, we need the ability to understand and express our own point of view. Second, we need the ability to deeply listen to others, so that we understand differing points of view. Third, we need the ability to create expanded perspectives that include both parties’ points of view. Finally, we need the ability to create solutions, bridges, and adaptations that work for everyone within that perspective. For example, suppose you need support in your work as an artist. First, you need to be able to explain exactly what your true needs are (e.g., other artists to bounce ideas off, audiences to communicate with, modest physical resources of food, etc.). Further, let’s suppose you are trying to build a mutually supportive relationship with someone who sees her needs as including the inspiration that your artworks might potentially provide.
Second, you need to listen well to understand the exact needs of this person - and what she is happy to provide in return, such as money (that’s an easy one, at least at the start) or sharing your work with her friends (this takes more creativity on your part, if you expect to fully benefit from it).
Third, you need to find a perspective that includes both of your needs. For example, how does that person’s need for inspiration relate to her energy for sharing inspiring artwork? How might all that relate to your exact needs for audiences? Finally you have the option to create a mechanism for enabling your mutual benefit. For example, you might create a blog or other website that she can bring her friends to and which you contribute examples of your art.
As this simple example shows, the ability to create new social structures demands several sub-abilities, including imagination, empathy, inventiveness and creativity. No one person needs to have all the sub-abilities. But we all need to create and join communities in which individuals with the component abilities and energies can give part of what they have to offer and get part of what they need.
People have been using these abilities since the beginning of time. Now, in a time of transition, these are the abilities that can most protect us from the crumbling of exploitative structures and can also hasten the emergence of mutually beneficial ones.
“The Storytelling Coach”
www.storydynamics.com
From Nina East, Chapel Hill, NC
You have to be able to show that you care - which means you actually have to care in the first place (not just have the appearance of caring) and be able to communicate this in genuine ways. Ultimately it all comes down to relationship. People who build meaningful relationships are the ones who will thrive in the future.
Founder, Personal Growth Princess
www.PersonalGrowthPrincess.com
From Matthew Lynch, Chestnut Hill, PA
There is so much change happening so quickly that people must remain adaptable. Stubborness will mean certain disaster. Those people that find themselves in the unemployment line must learn new skills if they want to begin working again. Also, the financial services industry has seen many large buy-outs and mergers. People have to be willing to do away with their old daily routines, and adapt to the changes that will inevitably come with the marriage of two companies. The most successful people adapt and overcome.
Assistant Manager, TD Bank North
www.tdbank.com
From Sue Painter, Knoxville, TN
When I peer into the future, the number one skill I see that we need for the future is collaboration with others. The new model of doing business is a collaborative model. After many years of competitiveness and on-upmanship, we’ve found the downsides of that model for business. The businesses that will thrive most in the next decade are those that are transpararent and know how to work with their customers and even with their competitors in strongly collaborative partnership. On the personal side, collaboration is a winning behavior, too. It leads to much more openness and thus more possibilities in our lives with family, friends and community.
President and Founder, The Confident Marketer
www.confidentmarketer.com
From Amy Edleman, Chestnut Hill, PA
Glad to offer my opinion. The skills that I believe business owners need to have is the ability to change and adapt. Whether it’s new technology, new products that a younger generation is interested in or responding to current events and applying them to business.
We began to take steps to become a Green certified bakery several months ago. Customers are more aware of environmental issues and support our efforts by recycling and even bringing their own bags. Our steps to reduce waste, water and energy have positively affected our bottom line.
Owner, Night Kitchen Bakery
www.NightKitchenBakery.com, http://greeninchestnuthill.blogspot.com
Read on to Part 3 for more number one skills
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Top Business Skills For Our Future, Part 3
May 24, 2009
This is the third part of my three-part survey of leaders from around the world who answered this question: “Everyone is concerned about how to survive in these tough times, but YOU are someone that lives bigger than just these times. When you peer into the future, what is the number one skill you see that we need for the future?”
From Jeff Simpkins, Charlotte NC
The number one skill is to constantly feed our minds with material that reminds us that we can do whatever it is that we want to do and are able to picture ourselves accomplishing. What that means is to make a decision about what it is that I want to do. Where do I want to be? What do I want to accomplish? All of those are questions that point to destination. Choose the destination, make the decision to get there and just make little decisions along the way. Every minute you invest your time, money and energy, ask yourself does this get me to my ultimate destination? If yes, then it means you’re taking one step towards where you want to be. If the answer is no, then you probably shouldn’t do it. this is a really easy formula for getting laser focused. Many people understand the theory but not the how. This formula makes it very easy.
President, Community Bank Consulting
www.CommunityBankConsulting.com
From Jennifer Zoga, Chestnut Hill, PA
I believe the number one skill that one needs in this tough economy and in the future is the skill of being able to recognize that it is the right time to act. When the economy slows, people tend to retreat, to lose momentum, to settle for inertia. Fear of failure or self-doubt makes it so easy to wait for options to expire. The boldness of understanding your core values, your direction and having the faith to leap into the unknown is required but then it is really the skill to quickly and simply ACT! I am constantly try to master this skill in my charity work, in my relationships and in opening a new business. It is indeed a very difficult skill to master!
Founder, Good Food Market
www.goodfoodmarket.net
From Miriam Battson, Seattle, WA
There are a number of skills I feel are important, however adaptability with holistic focus consistenly pops to mind. If we want a different future, we need to try new things and consider doing things differently to get a new result. Those who are unwilling to accept change and adapt to it will be left in the dust. As an example, when we look at who our actual clients are (Pettibon Chiropractors) we could simply focus on selling to them. Instead we are looking at delivering quality products and services that will help bring patients to their doors, who are looking for spinal rehabilitation where traditional chiropractic has not delivered the promise of health. In helping our clients succeed, so too will we.
Marketing & Sales Director, The Pettibon Institute
www.pettiboninstitute.org
From Pamela Learned, North Wales, PA
My one thing is to anticipate what change will mean for your clients, and your company. As a marketer in today’s climate, all of last year’s rules are obsolete. I scan the horizon constantly to understand how change will benefit my clients and my organization. I care about productivity, but that is a ground rule
The larger question is more complex: How can I meet my clients needs with fresh ideas and measurable results? How can I keep my staff, who are responsible for daily details, current, so I am not the only innovator on the team?
I seek out ideas about change from diverse sources. For visual clues, I check out Pantone Color Institute’s color forecast, which typically reflects economic and social trends. I read the titles from bestseller book lists (what does our fascination about vampires and knitting tell us about today?) I watch advertisements on TV to see how we are changing graphically: UPS whiteboards, Charles Schwab’s animated illustrations, and swirly, girly car and office supply ads.
I listen to podcasts about writers, designers, and more to identify cultural trends. I have watched blockbuster museum shows such as Renoir’s watercolors dictate design for over a year. I highly recommend www.studio360.org, which tracks tends like this in music, art, and writing. For now, I see a return to personal connections, a willingness to blatantly sell to women with the color pink (which I don’t personally agree with) and much more.
On the business operations level, I see seismic change that I’m still sorting through. The concept of Social Entrepreneurship fascinates, me, especially as someone who has always served businesses that serve a specific, local community. The localization of services using Internet technology is my next horizon.
President, Word Work, Inc.
www.wordwork.com
From David Jehlen, Champions Gate, FL
I believe that the number one skill that each of us will need to embrace and practice is the ability to distinguish between what is real and not for real for us. Most of us have been told what we need to DO to win the game of life. We’ve been beat over the head with advertisements, products, procedures, gurus, second uncles and even a government which with good intentions (usually) want us to fit in, play it safe and not think to big. I mean after all, we don’t want to be disappointed do we? Many of us have been so inundated with minutia that we really don’t know who we are anymore.
The ability to know what is real, what is true for us is what will allow us to express our highest and best. By listening to our own voice and then sharing our own unique perspective and gifts with others, we are in the ultimate position of serving, ourselves and others. There is a real silver lining in the clouds of doom and gloom. Many of us will understand, perhaps for the first time that stuff, status and arrogance really can’t add appreciable value to this experience we call life, at least not by themselves.
We are entering a new era where success will not be determined necessarily by education, career longevity or bull-headed determination, although some determination can be a positive attribute. Instead success will finally be measured by our own inner happiness, by our ability to stay in a monogamous relationship with our authentic self. However, this is not just an inside job, the real abundance, the juice of an exhilarating life can only be extracted through expressing our reality, our truth through service to others.
By sharing who we are at the deepest levels with those who resonate with our offer, we will experience more abundance, money, fun, deep satisfaction and even stuff (if we want it) than we ever could have in the old paradigm. Yes, it’s finally time to just get real.
The Dream Liberator
www.radicalbusinessmakeover.com
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Video of the Week, May 24
May 24, 2009
International Business Leader Robert Dilts
Founder of NLP University, Dilts Strategy Group and Robert Dilts Consulting
Robert was the man with whom I did my NLP Trainer and Consultancy Training. Robert is an exceptional human being and a man who is truly changing the world through his work. He is one of 15 leaders in this weeks survey of the top business skill for our future. Thank you Robert for all you do!
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Make Yourself Memorable Through Story
May 21, 2009
Let me tell you a little story. When I was a little girl my mother and I were on the way out of the Supermarket one day, when I asked her for a nickel to get a trinket out of one of those little machines by the door. She said yes, so I put my nickel in and out popped a little plastic bubble. I was ready with my childlike anticipation to find a shiny bracelet or a new toy but instead found, much to my horror, that there was a little rubber worm inside.
Eeew!
”Eeew!”, I shouted loud enough for the whole store to hear me. I shoved the plastic bubble towards my mother but instead of throwing it out, which is what I wanted her to do, my mother did a very smart thing. She got down on her knees and said, “Do you hear that?” And I, who didn’t want anything to do with this ugly little worm, leaned closer. “No what?”, I said.
“He’s crying,” she said. “He thinks you don’t like him.” And with that, Sniffles the worm became my new best friend.
So how did my mother, transform this angst-ridden situation into a heart-opening worm story? She did it through the power of story, a story that has endured to this day.
And that is the power of story.
For thousands of years, cultures have survived because of Storytelling. But today story is used as a modern tool for your business life as well. Stories help you to build your brand, stand out in the crowd and be memorable. How? Because the brain is wired to remember and enjoy stories, the information goes in easily and gets filed into the long term memory banks as well.
This is they basis of building a solid brand and the key to long-term business success. Because anything that is memorable and lasting will stand out in the crowd and endure over time. Think Aunt Jemima and Morton Salt. Each of these brands has a whole sense of story behind it. And every one of us wants to be memorable and stand out in the crowd.
Stories also create a powerful connection between people. A story is much more likely to engage another person, than will a laundry list of ideas or solutions. Stories hit us on a visceral level and thus create a deep emotional connection. And when there is an emotional connection with something, the brain locks onto it. That is what makes stories memorable as well.
This has been something marketers have understood for a long time. They know that telling a story is much more likely to engage people and help the idea or information remain over the long-term. Stories satisfy the basic human need to be known.
Story has the power to stay in our minds forever. Just think about a story that you remember from childhood. Did anyone ask you to memorize it? Probably not. But I imagine that you could probably sit down and tell that story by heart right? Because you made an emotional connection to it. You were literally inside of that story when it was being told to you – whether it was sailing on the high seas like Robinson Crusoe or being in the barn with Charlotte the spider, you learned the story from the inside out.
This same strategy can be used both for memorizing difficult material and for making your important material stand out to others. When you speak in story, people listen to you and more importantly they want more of what you have to offer. Here’s how to begin:
Step 1. - Tell a story, any story and notice how people listen.
Step 2. - Find stories that you like, have lived , or have value to you.
Step 3. Share stories everywhere.
Stories connect us inside and outside. Today stand out in the crowd and make yourself memorable through story.
Stand out in the crowd through story
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You Can’t Buy A Map For Where You’re Going
May 18, 2009
I’ve always lived my life in an unusual way. For most of my life, I didn’t know it was unusual. I thought that everyone lived the way I did. But I remember a boyfriend saying to me once, “Annie you live an extraordinary life and I live it in an ordinary life.” And I had no idea what he meant.
But when I was in college studying Italian, I got this wild idea to go to Italy and I knew that I wanted to marry an Italian. When I told people this, they looked at me like I was from Mars.
But strangely enough, through someone in the class, I met some Italians and because of them I went to Italy. And yes I did meet and marry an Italian! Now if you’d have asked me how I was going to do all of that, I would have had no idea. It was just something that I felt deep inside of me, in my bones. And for me it was nothing out of the ordinary. I still thought everyone lived this way.
I didn’t know then that being a big dreamer is not the norm! People would always say to me, “You did what??” , when I would tell them about this or that adventure. It didn’t feel like a big deal to me. Much of the time, it didn’t even feel like a risk.
I guess my battle was not with courage. It was more like I had a compulsion to run from being ordinary or bored. So I always went for those bigger dreams because the ordinary life seemed like a torture beyond imagining.
Now I didn’t provide myself with the house, husband and two children that other people have. But I’ve had a wonderful life of adventure and fun and in the past few years, I’ve been determined to bring this same energy of dreaming into my business life…..and it’s not been easy! Much of the world works against big dreamers. A lot of things out there tell you that you can’t dream big. But I try not to listen to all that and you shouldn’t either.
This morning I was talking with my friend Tracy about my desire to connect and collaborate with colleagues in Europe. Now there is no linear way to achieve this dream. There I no formula. I was telling here that I can’t see at all how I’m going to do this, but I can feel it in my bones, just like I’ve felt other dreams in the past. And at the end of the conversation she said to me, “Annie, you can’t buy a map at Walmart for where you are going.”
I love that! And it’s really true.
When you are a big dreamer, the map is in your head and the compass is in your heart. You have to follow the tiny and irrational gut instincts that tell you to do crazy things in directions of your growth. As the poet Rumi says, “Feel yourself being quietly drawn by the deeper pull of what you truly love.”
That’s it. Quietly drawn. Not anxiously, not grasping and not desperate.
I had no idea years ago how I was going to get to Italy. But the dream came to me, and many other dreams have come as well. I’ve also had many broken dreams and fallen dreams. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about that too. It’s all part of being a big dreamer
But being a big dreamer is a gift and it’s not to be taken for granted.
That former boyfriend had a dream about me once where he took me to the top of a high building and said, “There are other beautiful worlds out there.” Yes there are other beautiful worlds out there. I think this should be the motto of every big dreamer. And if you’re reading this, you’re probably a big dreamer too and maybe you’re needing or wanting to dust a dream off the shelf and put it out there.
Not grasping, not desperate, not anxious. Just quietly being drawn by your heart. The map is inside, not at Walmart. Don’t stop where you are today, keep going into new territory.
And if you want to check out my wonderful friend Tracy’s gorgeous calligraphy, go to www.bellascrittura.com
Love you Tracy. Thanks for always being a friend that stands behind me big dreams and crazy ideas!
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