The Dream Symbol

Symbols are an integral part of my art. Whenever I'm working on a piece, they somehow make their way in. Most of the time I am not really aware of what symbols will end up on a particular piece. It's really a moment by moment process unless the art is commissioned and I know what specific symbols I need to concentrate on.

Dealing so much with dreams and daydreaming lately, I decided to Google "dream symbols" or "symbols for dreams" and all I received were either books on dreams and what they mean or images that really had nothing to do with what I was looking for. I really wanted to find a symbol for just dreams or dreaming. As it turns out, there weren't any. So, I thought I'd give it a try and see if a symbol came to me. I wanted to start using it in my art and also as part of "Day-Dreaming Tuesdays."

I sat down at my drawing table and the symbol below came to me rather quickly.

As you can see, it's very simple. The flame in the center stands for many things. Sometimes I think of it as our imagination. The spark where all dreams reside waiting to explode into the physical world. The symbol also stands for always keeping your dreams alive. That's what that flame represents as well. It means to always keep that little light burning inside of you. Many times during my major bouts with depression in the past, one of the ways I got through them was just knowing that I was meant to do something with my life. I might not have known what that was, but I always felt some thing, some small piece of hope inside me that would always keep me going. I see that flame in the symbol as that small amount of hope that has always kept me going in times of deep sorrow or depression. Even when I wasn't aware of how the Universe works and the power of my thinking, I always had that inner knowing. That spark within me was always flickering and giving me, whether I was truly aware of it or not, strength to continue.

I've started using the Dream symbol in some of my art. It also stands for HOPE and BELIEVING in your dreams, your future, your LIFE! There's always a space for all those things in my work I think. Feel free to copy the image above and print it out. Place it on your Vision Board or anywhere that's visible to you. Make it a reminder to always believe in your dreams and no matter what your present situation might be, that spark within you will never die, it's always flickering away. We're here to enjoy life and make our dreams come true. We all have the power to do so. And, we all need a reminder every now and again.

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Visualizing your dreams

Excerpted from the workshop in Boston, MA on Saturday, October 9th, 1999:

Act a little less and think a little more... We're not saying stop acting and do it all in mind. We're saying work your 8 hours or your 10 hours or your 16 hours.. Just spend at least 10 or 15 minutes -- in a day where you are working 8-10-16 hours of physical action in order to maintain the physical stuff that you've gathered around you -- trying to find pleasure from some vision.

Afford yourself that. And that 10 or 15 minutes that you are finding pleasure, will cause a focalization of Energy within you that the Universe will actualize around. You will begin to notice that you are more productive, because of 15 minutes of visualization, than you were from 16 hours of hard labor. --- Abraham

When I received that quote in my Inbox yesterday, I started to smile. Every single word made so much sense. It is exactly what I have been doing for the past several weeks. Not so long ago, I finally understood that fine balance between what is going on in the physical world; the job, the appointments, the family issues, the love issues, etc. etc. All those things that feel real to us because they are happening around us and we can feel and touch them. And, then the flip side. That other world, that for my purposes I like to call my Day-Dream World. It's what I believe Abraham is talking about in the quote above.

I start my mornings with an Ah Meditation session, where as I recite or chant the sound of "Ah", I clear my root chakra and visualize the things I'd like to manifest. This is the start of my day and it affords me a peek into that Dream World. The world where I am already doing what it is I am longing to do. Where I am already able to accomplish the many things that are on my agenda. I won't go into them here because these things are filled with magic and should not be shared too often. But, needless to say, as I do the Ah Meditation, I am able to see and most importantly, feel all of the things I want to manifest and do in this world.

This feeling, this peek into that other world stays with me throughout my day. I try to go to that space as much as I can during my day, no matter where I am or what I'm doing. And, especially on Day-Dreaming Tuesdays, I make sure to set aside times during the day to daydream and "live" in that space for at least 5 minutes.

It has been written that daydreams have the power to show us what our lives can be like. And, if you pay attention, they can guide you towards a better life simply by giving you something to compare your present state with this "dream state." In other words, if you daydream of an amazing vacation and you see yourself enjoying all this vacation has to offer. Maybe it's an entire week of lounging at the beach or by the pool and doing absolutely nothing. Or, you're backpacking through Europe letting yourself go wherever the wind blows, truly being adventurous. If you daydream these scenarios, you are more likely to try and make your next vacation match this dream vacation and the Universe will get on board and help you get just what you've been visualizing.

That' s also what I believe Abraham is saying when they mention that you'll find yourself being more productive in those 10 - 15 minutes of visualization or dreaming. I've experienced that myself lately. I've been concentrating on making a few dreams come true with my art just by spending time daily on the feeling of having already done the things I'd like to do. I can assure you that all of a sudden, I've turned around and seen the work multiply and I've produced more and more so effortlessly that it seems as if these things were done without me. It's amazing!

I can't encourage you enough to spend some time, 10 or 15 minutes, 5 minutes if it's all you can afford to spend, and just dream a little. Enjoy the process. Let it be a pleasurable experience and not a chore. You really have nothing to lose and so much to gain. If nothing else, you have given yourself a small break from the craziness around you. Your mind and body will feel the shift and the more you do it, the more you'll want to do it and for longer periods of time.

Peace and Light and Keep Dreaming!

Gene-Manuel

Making your own Sacred Space

To me, a sacred space can be any where I choose or any thing I choose. In the mornings, my sacred space is the chair near my living room window where I do my Ah Meditation. When I'm working on my whirling art, the entire work area transforms itself into a beautiful and precious sacred space. The box where I keep my dream, written on a piece of paper from Bali and folded many times over, is also a sacred space.

I think it's important to create your own sacred space in this world. We live in a time where we willingly give up our privacy on a daily basis. I'm a self-admitted Facebook and now Twitter addict! I love the ways we are all able to share our joys, frustrations, happiness, rages, loves, dislikes, bodily movements, you name it! By typing in a few sentences on Facebook I can let all my friends know how I'm doing or how my family is. When my mom was in the hospital back in February, Facebook became a constant source of support for me. Every time I posted a status update letting everyone know that we were still in hospital and things weren't improving, I was comforted by the kind words of friends, some of whom I haven't seen in over 10 years. But, they were there for me, instantly. I also believe their prayers, chants, lighted candles, etc., helped mom recover enough to leave the hospital after 2 1/2 weeks. 

So, I'm not knocking the ways we communicate and share ourselves with the world at large. But, in the midst of all these technological advances in communication, it's now more important than ever to create a space all our own. A space where we are able to be alone. . . still . . . quiet. A space where we can save our secret hopes and dreams or share a knowledge you'd like to keep private until the right moment to blast it into the Universe with a "tweet!"

These Sacred Spaces provide wonderful opportunities to dream or be grateful or simply make a connection to something greater. It all comes back to shutting down the noise that surrounds us on a daily basis and coming back to your center. I look forward to stepping into my sacred space each day because I know that it is time specifically devoted to me. All is indeed well when I've had at least a few minutes to step away from the whirlwind that surrounds me and just breathe or write in my journal or place another dream in its special hiding place.

After this becomes a habit, what you will see start to happen is you will get the ability to remain in a sacred space even while you're out in your every-day world. Your connection to your space, to that quiet place, will remain with you. A beautiful, joyous calm will always be with you no matter where you go. 

I'll write further about Sacred Spaces in future postings but for now, I urge you to at least start thinking about creating your own space. Just putting that thought out into the Universe will be a great beginning.

Peace and Light and keep DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Inspired Action (2)

When I paid attention and listened to that inner voice (Inspired Action) that told me to go to the arts supply store and buy markers and paper, I had no idea what was about to happen. I bought an 11" x 14" pad of paper and a small supply of markers. I didn't know what I was doing or buying, but it all felt right.

As soon as I had the markers and the paper in front of me, and I was alone, I suddenly got this flashing vision of a leaf that I knew I had to draw. The need to draw this leaf was so strong, that for the next two hours, that's all I did. I drew this big, red leaf, with small dots and little details. After stopping, I realized two hours had passed but it had felt to me like a few minutes. A few precious minutes of bliss. For those two hours I had not thought about anything else but the leaf that was appearing in front of me. For two hours I did not think about any of the usual problems that would creep into my head. For two beautiful hours, I felt as if I had entered the Silent Mind I had heard so much about.

That's when I knew that I wanted to do this drawing thing more often. From this day on, every single free moment I had, I spent drawing. After the red leaf was finished, a blue candle kept popping into view until I had it in front of me on paper. This drawing showed the beginning of my use of symbols. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had about 8 pieces ranging from Native American symbols to Egyptian hieroglyphs. I could not stop. As if I were possessed, I would walk into my apartment and immediately go to my drawings and start working. I would be in the middle of a sentence and as if in a trance, I'd stop talking and start drawing.

One day, I was compelled to investigate whirling dervishes. I suddenly remembered Kate Bush using whirling dervishes in many of her videos, especially the one for "Love and Anger," which I immediately searched for on YouTube. Something in their whirling made me want to know more about them. I ran to Google and was treated to an instant course in the history and images of whirling dervishes. After some time, the image of a whirling dervish in the Sema came alive on the page before me. Again, I was struck by how natural this felt to me. How creating this image was something I knew I had to do. "The Whirling" was the first of many whirling dervishes that I have had the honor of creating.

I have let Inspired Action guide me through this new-found passion and it has not led me astray. I am on an incredible journey that has brought such peace and tranquility and JOY into my life that is hard to describe. I learn from every single piece of I art I create. Every image, whether it is a whirling dervish or Buddha, a Tree of Life or a lotus flower, brings with it a message. I am humbled and consider myself one of the happiest people on this beautiful planet Earth every single time I get to sit down and create something on paper.

Always listen to that voice inside that is telling you what to do. Call it Inspired Action, Divine Intervention, gut feeling, the Universal voice, God, whatever feels right to you. You know what I am talking about because we all have it. Listen to it because it will never guide you wrong. If I would've ignored that voice that told me to go and spend money I really didn't have on art supplies that I had never bought in my life, who knows if I would be doing the art that I'm doing now? Although I have a strong feeling that I would've somehow ended up doing this anyway, it might have taken alot longer. But, by listening and not second-guessing myself, and trusting, I now create art that brings a never-ending supply of joy not only to me but to many others. I finally got the answer to those questions, "What am I doing here?" "What is my purpose?"

The answers we sometimes look for outside of us and in "things" are, most of the time, right in front of us. We have those answers and if we only make the room in our lives for them to come forth, by meditating, spending a quiet moment or two during the day contemplating all of the wonderful possibilities in life, they will come through. Like Eckhart says, "Stillness Speaks."

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING,

Gene-Manuel

Inspired Action (1)

One of my most important experiences with Inspired Action happened in the summer of 2008.  I had been looking for a way to meditate and bring some peace into my life. Fresh from reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth, I had started the practice of taking a few minutes every day or so to be as still as possible. I also started asking the Universe to help me find some answers. Mainly, I was asking for help. "What am I meant to do here on earth?" "Why am I here?" "What am I DOING HERE?"

Nothing much seemed to happen. Although, I did start to notice I was calmer and peaceful.  But in terms of actual answers, I did not see or get any. Until, one afternoon in July, I clearly received a message, a small nudge. It was in the form of that inner voice that can be heard with such clarity once you learn to block all the noise from the outside world.

In letting in those moments of stillness, I had opened the way for Inspired Action to flow. What was the message? My inner voice told me to go to my nearest arts supply store and buy markers and paper. That was it.

This thought was so clear and made so much sense to me that I didn't question it. It was like "of course I have to go and get supplies! There is nothing strange about that at all?  I have always needed to do this?"

As I walked to the nearest Utrecht, I had no idea what was about to happen to me. How Inspired Action and not questioning but "acting" on it, would change my life.

More to come.

 

 

The powerful combination of dreams and inspired action!

If you don't believe that dreams really do come true, then let me tell you about Bernard Lachance. He was featured in last week's Oprah show called Harpo Hookups. The Oprah show hooked-up deserving people with tremendous opportunities. One young lady got to spend an entire week in New York with the cast of SNL and the entire country became eligible for a free meal at KFC, etc., etc.

Midway through the show, we were introduced to singer Bernard Lachance. On April 2, 2009, Bernard had posted a vide on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tohGOH20aGA) asking Oprah to come and claim the two tickets he had reserved for her and her best friend Gayle, to his show at the Chicago Theatre on June 6th.

Bernard rented the theatre for his performance, costing him a total of $18,000 for the night (his entire life savings). In order to promote the show and sell tickets, he stands in front of the theatre with a cd and headphones and stops people in the street. He asks them if they'd like to listen to his music and then gets them to buy tickets to his show. If they accept, they get to cross off their seats on the specially made t-shirt he wears with the theatre's seating chart.

This is what he was hoping would happen with Oprah. This was his dream. It turns out, his dream came true, not exactly as he thought but in many, many ways, the reality was even bigger and better! The Universe has a way of rewarding us with bigger dreams than we can come up with for ourselves.

The Oprah show producers found Bernard's YouTube video and sent Gayle to claim the tickets from Bernard himself. When Gayle steps out of the car and calls his name, there was this moment of confusion right before he realizes what is happening to him, that is priceless. After he calms down, Gayle tells him that unfortunately Oprah would be out of the country on June 6th and therefore unable to attend his concert. This where his dream becomes even bigger than he imagined.

Since Oprah wouldn't be able to attend his show, she was then extending a personal invitation for Bernard to join her on her show and make his American television debut!

A week later Bernard Lachance was on the Oprah stage singing an English/French version of "The Impossible Dream" in front of Oprah, the world and his parents who joined him via Skype!

Is that amazing or what? During his interview, he told Oprah that the night before Gayle showed up at the Chicago Theatre, he had broken down in his hotel room and had finally given up trying to get Oprah to come to his show. He had realized that he needed to concentrate on the actual show and had released and surrendered. And the next day, Gayle shows up!

I couldn't believe it! To see someone's dream come true like that is always empowering and inspiring. Although he said that he had finally given up the night before Gayle showed up, what he actually did was release any attachment he had to this dream. The energy was cleared and in turn, the dream had a way in. And it was instant. The next day in fact!

He had been working towards this moment for years. His dreaming with inspired action paid off. That is the lesson here. I strongly believe that by dreaming we are creating our reality, but, there has to be inspired action to support those dreams. Bernard is proof of that. His innovative way of promoting his shows and his music was the action behind his dreams. Constant dreaming and constant action gave him tremendous results!

What an incredible story. Bernard's performance was amazing on the show. The minute the orchestra began to play, he looked straight at the camera and you could just tell he was ready for it. What he'd been dreaming about and working for had finally happened. It was brilliant!

More information on Bernard Lachance can be found on his site officiel: Bernard Lachance . com

His cd While I Remember You is available on iTunes and it's pretty great. I'm not a music critic so I won't go into details but it's a great combination of pop/adult contemporary songs, including one of my favorite songs, Nessun Dorma. I strongly recommend it. Support a dreamer!!

Oh and his appearance on the show happened on Day-Dreaming Tuesday of course!

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Back to the gym

So, finally, after about 8 months, I took the walk to my gym. The gym that I've been making monthly payments to just to help them out with their rent I guess, since I haven't set foot in it. When I first stopped waking up at 7am and doing my morning workout, I blamed it on my new-found love and obsession: my art. I was working until 2 or 3 in the morning every single night on all these wonderful pieces of art. I really could care less about getting to the gym in the morning, and after I come home from my various jobs, I'm too tired to go.

One thing led to another and one week turned into two, two weeks into a month and a month into 8 MONTHS. I'm of the belief that if I don't work out, and stop counting points (Weight Watchers) I will gain weight, therefore, I did. I've gained about 20lbs back out of the 35 I lost last year. Not a big deal to some, but I feel them right away. My jeans let me know something was up a couple of months ago actually. Looking good in jeans is one thing but I'm more interested in occupying the right amount of space in this world. What I mean by that is this: when I'm bigger than my "normal" size, I feel like I'm occupying more space than I need to. I'm heavier, not in just the physical sense, but in all ways. When I'm at the weight that is right for me, I feel so light and so just "right" that it's as if I'm able to float. It's also a mental weight that gets lifted as well.

So, anyway, I gained the 20lbs and with work and my mom being sick and facing that depression I wrote about, I just have not concentrated on working out at all. Today was the day though. I didn't plan on it. I woke up and just knew that I was going to go back to the gym. Now, I've been working on minding my own business, like Byron Katie says. And also, not letting my ego get in the way and making me afraid of doing things just because I fear judgment from others. For the most part, I can say I do pretty well with that. What other people say or think about me is not really my problem. You cannot live your life trying to please others because you will most likely always be disappointed or hurt. I totally get that.

Yet, there I was, walking to the gym and some of those thoughts, (in this case, little rocks not boulders), appeared on my way. "What are the people at the gym going to say? Here he is again . . . he gained weight . . . again. Why does he keep doing that?" Blah blah blah.

As I was walking and thinking these thoughts, I actually started laughing. It was a little surprising to me that I was thinking this. That there was a part of me that actually still worried about what others thought. Especially about my weight. I'm glad I started laughing and kept walking because there would have been a time years and years ago when I probably would have turned back and gone home. Can you imagine giving others that much power over your life?

Those thoughts, if not dealt with or at least investigated, could really be damaging. I think back at my high-school self and remember how those feelings kept me trapped for so long. I was afraid of doing anything because I was worried about what others were going to think of me. Now that is something I don't care to live through again.

The truth is that nobody really cares at my gym whether or not I've gained weight. First of all, that's why you go to a gym. Either to lose weight, or to maintain the weight you've got or to just be healthy. Also, I don't go to the gym to make others happy or to get complimented on my weight loss, etc. If I did, it would seem to me that I would be there every single day.

The ego really likes to take over doesn't it? It's really important to be aware of ego's presence and learn to ignore those damaging thought patterns. Those loops that we keep playing in our minds. Once you realize what they really are, just tapes that your ego likes to play over and over again, in order to gain some control, then you can push stop. We are all equipped with the ability to stop a loop that doesn't feel right. How do you know when the loop or tape or story you're playing is not the right one? Well, for me, the most telling sign is that it doesn't feel good. It makes me feel all the emotions that are opposite from FEELING GOOD.

Believe me, I'm not always so quick to press STOP and really just center myself. But, the more you do it, like today for me, the easier it gets. Also, the more you do it the quicker you get at recognizing when you've started playing one of those old, boring tapes again. In some cases, the thing is so old it's like an old 8-Track. Who needs that!?

I'm happy to report the gym experience was a great one. I was greeted very warmly by the owner. He asked how I was and what I had been up to. I got on some of the machines that I know so well and did very light weight training to just get my muscles warmed up a bit. Nobody laughed, nobody pointed and stared. Nobody really cared. I did my work out. Listened to Kylie. I visualized and felt my body changing. I daydreamed a little about what it feels like to occupy that "right space" and had a fantastic time.

Those 20 glorious pounds will come off in no time!

Peace and light and keep dreaming,
Gene-Manuel

A boulder in the road . . .

In the wonderful DVD, You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay speaks about our spiritual paths and how we never stop learning. How when we start out on our individual journey, at first, there are all these boulders in our path. As we continue the journey, we start getting the boulders out of our way, up to the point where the path is just gravel. She says, "gravel you can handle . . .you can do things. . . and then occasionally, there's an old boulder." And you think, "hmmm, I thought I had taken care of that one" or "I thought I had learned all the lessons this boulder had to teach", "I did this one already." Louise then asks, "Well, how do you know you've done it, (learned the lesson) unless it comes by once more and see how you react? Have you really learned it? Or are you going to go right back to the same old reaction?"

I was speaking to a dear friend today and this topic came up. The one about knowing better, or thinking that the lesson was learned way back in the day, and all of a sudden, you're back to what feels like your old behaviour. That boulder in the road, blocking your progress.

I was recently greeted with a boulder I know well: depression. I thought I had conquered it, done it, lived in, out and through it so many times in the past. I thought that finally, I really had come out the other side. But there it was. Faced with situations that made me feel uncomfortable, helpless and hopeless, I once again felt the grip of depression take hold. Even the things in my life that were bringing me so much joy, such as my art, seemed to lose their power to bring me joy and peace. In fact, a piece I had started prior to this depression bout, has taken me longer than any other piece I've ever done. My heart was just not in it.

But, this time, things were a little different. Although there was the day where all I did was sit in my recliner and play solitaire on my iPhone, I was able to at least for an hour or two, rise above the misery. Even though the next day I cried on and off for two hours before leaving the house, I was able to reach for a better feeling thought and spend a few hours in what I call mind-relief. I was able to focus on something else that wasn't my depressed emotional state. In the past, I would've marinated in the feelings of despair and would've come up with every single reason why I was justfied in feeling this way.

This time around, I was able to face the depression head-on and instead of it blocking my progress on my life journey, I only stayed put for a couple of weeks. And even while I was there, temporarily stuck in the road, I was still able to look around the boulder and see that the path was clear. Behind this boulder of depression, there was only gravel. And, yeah, gravel I can handle.

And you know what, I was also able to appreciate how much I loved and enjoyed my life prior to the depression kicking in. I realized that the only thing that had changed, was the way I was thinking about things. I missed that new me that had emerged from the years of self-inflicted pain, despair, anger and rage.

As it turns out, I guess I have been paying attention. All the wonderful teachers that I've attracted to me, and their words of wisdom and hope, had given me something I lacked before. Eckhart Tolle taught me to be as present as possible. Byron Katie's work allowed me to do The Work on the issues that were causing me such pain and rage and suffering. The messages and rampages of Abraham-Hicks were a blessing and a comfort. Every now and again I would hear Wayne Dyer's voice in my head, reminding me that by changing my thoughts, I could change my life.

I'm happy to say that I was able to slowly and carefully remove that boulder from my path. It has rolled to the side of road and although I hope I don't have to meet with it again, I feel pretty confident that I'll able able to handle it if I do. It just takes a constant awareness of what I'm feeling and what thoughts I'm focusing on. I can't always control the things around me, but I do have the power to control how I react to them. And, really, I feel it all boils down to trusting that the Universe is always looking out for me. If deep in my core I know that I'm being taken care of by an all-loving, peaceful and generous Universe, then I've got nothing to worry about.

Until next time.

Peace and Light and keep dreaming,

Gene-Manuel

My first Day-Dreaming Tuesday Experience . . . so far

Wow! You know, when I came up with this idea of dedicating an entire day to daydreaming, I didn't know what to make of it. Actually, the idea came to me while I was doing a short 10 minute Ah Meditation session. I'm not sure if it was during the actual session or right after I came out of it but, the message was quite clear. It was as if I could see the words written in bold letters right in front of my eyes: DAY-DREAMING TUESDAYS

I've learned to not overthink things like these too much so, I got out of my own way and let one thing lead me to another. By the end of the day yesterday, this blog was started, and I was ready to participate in this experience.

So far, I've had one of the best days I've had in about a month and 1/2. I'll go into that later this week, but for today, for right now, I am having an amazing day.

I started with a beautiful daydreaming session while on a NJ Transit bus, stuck inside the Lincoln Tunnel. I envisioned all these amazing products related to my Whirling Art and beyond. I could see the shirts, feel their texture and even see that they were tagless. ha! My affirmation/dream boxes all lined up in a row creating a beautiful display. Before I knew it, we had come out of the tunnel!

Although I had to work all day, I took the time to daydream a few minutes at a time during the day. I even incorporated a daydream into whatever I was doing. There is nothing like spending someone else's money and pretending it's your own! Loved it!

The day flew by and I was out walking towards Port Authority with Kylie singing in my ear. It might have looked like I was just walking on Eighth Avenue to the rest of the people around me but little did they know I was in an outdoor lounge in Tenerife, Spain. (Make sure that when you're always aware of traffic and other people around you so that you're safe!)

Now I'm home and getting ready to have a great dinner. Before that though, I think a good 10 minute Ah Meditation with a few daydreams thrown in will make a great appetizer.

Lots of other great things happened today as well. I'll share some of them tomorrow. I've still got a lot of daydreaming to do before Midnight.

Peace and light,

Gene-Manuel

Day-Dreaming Tuesdays are here!

I was lucky enough to have parents that either didn't know I was daydreaming all the time or didn't discourage me from doing it. Well, at least not until I was around 18. By then, they just wanted me to get a job and pay my own bills. But, up until then, I was free to daydream all I wanted. In fact, it was something I did constantly.

My first experiences with daydreams happened in Cuba, where I was born. I remember spending what felt like hours, dreaming of the day that I would get to leave the country and come to the United States. I used to picture everyone in the US ice-skating. I associated ice-skating with living in the US. With limited television access, most of what I thought the US looked like was an ice-skating rink. So, I would daydream of the day that I would land here, skates magically appearing on my feet, and skate away.

Well, the reality wasn't quite like that but the freedom I experienced in those daydreams is something I still have not forgotten. And, by the way, I tried ice-skating once and decided it just wasn't for me.

The main point here is that while I was daydreaming as a little boy in Cuba, I had no doubt, ZERO DOUBT, that I would one day get to leave that communist-ridden country. Every time I pictured myself here in the US, visiting with the family I had up until that point never met, I had this feeling deep in my core that let me know that dream was going to become a reality. Before I knew it, my family was allowed to leave the country and I was on my way. When the news came, it seemed to surprise my parents . . . I knew it all along. I had dreamt it into reality.

So, what happens to us and our daydreams as we get older ? Little by little they fall by the wayside. Most likely due to the fact that most people consider daydreaming a complete waste of time. We should be focused on the here and now. That's the only way to make your dreams a reality. And sooner or later, we stop "wasting our time" daydreaming and give in wholeheartedly to our present reality.

Now, let me just say that I'm also for living in the moment. Eckhart Tolle's wonderful books A New Earth and The Power of Now are filled with the wisdom of living in the NOW. And, Eckhart is quite right in telling us to focus our attention and energy in the present moment because that's all that really matters - today - tomorrow is always today. But, while we focus on the present moment, let's take some time, in the NOW, to visualize and daydream our future.

There is immense power in daydreams! Ann Albers wrote in "The Power of Daydreaming":

Daydreaming will determine the standard you want to uphold in your life. If you allow yourself to daydream of a wonderful relationship, you won't settle for lesser ones, because you know how the good one feels and you will recognize it when it comes. If you daydream of a life of ease and grace, you will begin to see where you choose or create unnecessary struggle. If you daydream of a meaningful career, you open up to receiving inspiration and new business ideas from the heavens as you release yourself from the censorship of old limitations. Daydreaming is visiting the future so you will know how to act in the present.

Isn't that a great statement? "Daydreaming is visiting the future so you will know how to act in the present."

DAY-DREAMING TUESDAYS

That's the point of Day-Dreaming Tuesdays! Take some time every Tuesday to visualize your future and live the dream. Throw any and all skepticism out the window and bring back that sense of wonder you used to have as a child!

Even if it's for just five minutes, spend some time dreaming of what could be. What would you love to be doing today? Is it taking that dream vacation? Is it performing on a stage? Is it something as simple as spending more time with your loved ones? What is it? Dust off those dreams and get them back in working mode!

I know we're all busy. Believe me, I have a full Tuesday ahead of me. But, I plan to take some time and dream . . . I can't wait!

From this Tuesday on and every Tuesday after, let's make it DAY-DREAMING TUESDAYS and get our dreams in gear. I will continue updating this blog with more information, not only on daydreaming but all sorts of interesting ways to get ourselves motivated and getting our dreams realized!

I want to hear from you. Let me know what you spent some of your time daydreaming about today. How did the experience feel? Comment here or e-mail me directly: Gene-Manuel

Remember to have fun with it. Nothing is worth doing if it isn't fun.

Peace and Light,

Gene-Manuel