I’ve been a big fan of SARK and her brightly colored self-help and inspirational books since I accidentally stumbled across one about 12 years ago. Her honesty about her shortcomings and her techniques for overcoming stumbling blocks have made me feel as if I could do anything.
When her latest book, “Make Your Creative Dreams Real,” arrived on store shelves, I was so excited. I have approximately one million different ideas, projects and dreams floating around my head and I wanted to see some of them actually happen. If you’re like me (and I’m pretty sure you are!), this book is for you.
Basically, this book will encourage you to name your dreams, figure out what your personal roadblocks are to achieving them (my big ones are fear, procrastination and perfectionist tendencies), and remind you what you have inside of you to make them come true. SARK offers steps to make it happen and she explains her concept of “micromovements” to help you when you’re frozen into inactivity. Every chapter offers exercises and resources to help along each step of the way.
There is no wrong way to “do” this book. Take a chapter a week, a month, or whenever it suits you. My particular method varies between “when I think of it” and “when I have a quiet moment.” SARK is very forgiving and encouraging. SARK also suggests finding others, either locally or online, who also have an interest in exploring their own creative dreams and working together to encourage and support each other.
As I read through the book, I began a journal of my thoughts regarding my dreams. The mere act of thinking about all of my dreams in life, never mind acting on them, is a daunting activity. I always find that spending some time with an art journal, rather than simply writing my thoughts in a messy speedy slew of paragraphs, or in my online journal, really helps me to focus on what I’m doing. I spend time finding images, quotes and colors that keep my concentration on the topic at hand.
Art journaling can be as simple as writing in assorted colors, in beautiful (or fancy or simple or everyday or bold or large or... you get the picture) handwriting. It can also be as involved as you’d like, utilizing all of the tools you have amassed in your craft room. The aisles of your favorite craft, stamping or scrapbooking retail store are filled with stickers, rub-ons, papers and ideas for your art journal. I’m ashamed to say I can’t actually draw, so these visuals help me to focus on my thoughts. Magazine clippings, clip art, family photos, postcards, whatever strikes my fancy at that particular moment, can all end up in my journal pages. A lot of times, I’ll start the page by painting a wash of color over it, as I never feel like my journal pages are truly finished until the entire page is covered with something. Other times, I’ll color in all of the blank spaces when I’m done putting my thoughts to the page.
On this spread, i gave myself a good talking-to, by downplaying the negatives that always stop me, and focusing on the myriad positives that make up who I am. I had a lot of fun with the watercolor pencils on this page and really felt satisfied and encouraged when I was done. I refer to this page often when I feel stuck. What do you have inside of you that will help you make your dreams come true?
The amazing thing about this process is that even if I don’t give it my full attention on a regular basis, magical things have started to happen anyway. From the time I started this creative dreams journal (January of this year) up until the moment I’m sitting here writing this article, approximately half a dozen of my dreams are either reality or well on their way. Don’t lose sight of your dreams.
