As a child I loved Saturday mornings because aside from the chance that we might get to go to town my parents would always play the radio from early in the day. Back then the music selection was the coolness so cool in fact that there are songs from then that still inspire me to sing. Sidenote the name Sharon literally means singer and yes I do sing though design stole my heart before I took the stage as a career. I’ll be singing at my first event soon though #thisname LOL.
So in the midst of this Saturday morning magic I loved to read and the weekend was the best time to crack open the Enid Blyton and other selection of authors I loved. Every week I made it a point to go to the library and select a treat and then for hours I would be transported to imaginary worlds where I met “The wind in the willows”, “R.L. Stine’s “Goosebumps”, “Charlie and the chocolate factory”, “Matilda” and many more.
Those days were so enjoyable because I lived in this perpetual realm of possibility where even my dreams at night seemed to come alive like well directed screen plays. I’m quite sure that’s how at least one big producer has gotten ideas for their movies. In this new age all we see or really care about is the finished product and we flock to the cinema for the premier because we like the association that comes with being the first to see it but I don’t think we quite connect the dots to the creative agonising that takes place to make such wondrous productions.
Imagination is the key ingredient for your dreamscape
For purposes of this discussion I have called the imaginative space of infinite possibilities which exists outside of the ordinary the dreamscape. This is a safe zone where you can escape the lemons that have a way of making us bitter if left undealt with. Here you can make lemonade and refresh your soul.
I may even go so far as to argue that it is in this realm that we are best able to commune with God because He is unseen but we know that He exists and is greatly involved in our lives. Peace is also found here as well as great resolve. God has been known to deposit revelation, warning and affirmation through dreams but as long as our minds and hearts are clouded with other things we miss out on one of the simpler ways that our Father speaks to us.
Growing up in this age feels like we’ve lost a chunk of our capacity to imagine and I don’t know if it’s because we just culturally have not been inclined towards it or we are afraid of the unknown. I used to live in imagination central even though it made me a weirdo to my very practical parents and then it’s like the more slaps I got across the face from life the more I snapped out of it and into the world system of doubt.
I started to look at my age, my income, my never having run a full time store filled with my personal designs and all the other obvious reasons why I should just let my dream go and stop fighting the system. I’ve basically modelled and remodelled myself according to an idea of what a model citizen my age and background should be.
Just for the record I’ve since thrown in the towel on that one ipressure (its pressure) and it only makes you sullen on the inside. These brains currently running Dazzle are me as I am not as I think I should be. I can honestly say there’s been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I find myself back in that dreamscape constructing my very own success story.
Cultivate the capacity to dream before you lose it
The time and space to dream generally becomes less as you grow older and acquire more responsibilities. Many things take up your imaginative landscape and it’s important not to lose it altogether because believe me the world will try to take it off your hands and replace it instead with anxious thoughts about this or that impending disaster.
I feel that I could have been so much further with Dazzle if I had just stuck to my guns straight from Uni. I say that because I’ve been discovering lately that putting it off only increased the back log I have to deal with in order to gain traction on the market.
I started Dazzle under a worse-for-wear table at Avondale Flea Market in 2007 and only in 2017 did I finally get the courage to make it count. To a young Dazzle out there postponing your success does nothing but retard progress when you finally decide to go for it. Rather take this time to cultivate the dream in your mind. When you finally overcome the obstacles of self doubt in your mind, write it down, then set about keeping your eyes open and your ears on the ground because sometimes we miss opportunities because we are not actively seeking to move forward.
There will be hard days and you will want to quit but don’t. Allow yourself to feel the fear and horror but remember to put it in its place and keep going.
My prayer today is for the graveyard to go bankrupt; too many dreams are buried there. May this message re-awaken that childhood dream you may have let go or are still afraid even to think about. May you be convicted to choose life and do what you were made for..Amen
