Life Dreaming

This mission is not for the fainthearted.

You need to be resilient, brave , imaginative and willing to give it your all.

Some of you may not return.

if you do not feel ready for this mission then read no further

We salute those of you who have chosen to accept this mission.

The Terms of the Mission

1. You do at least one thing every day
2. You need to create time and space of between 20 and 60 minutes a day
3. You concentrate on the mission only during this time … no distractions allowed

The Mission Goals

The 6 Big R’s

Relax
Recharge
Replenish
Revive
Reward
Reengage

The Mission Tactics

Each day you will choose to experience the 6 Big R’s on any of 4 levels for 20 to 60 minutes … as a minimum … and you can do it in small chunks.

Physical – walk, dance, sing, swim, eat, cook yummies, look, explore, lie down, run, smell, knit, sew, have a massage, create, build, play  … do anything physical  … take some lovely breathes and look around at things that delight you

Emotional – engage with yourself and remember good times … spend time with people who make you laugh … ring a friend or Skype …  stop and chat to people you know in the street … write a letter to yourself about the things you really like about your life and yourself … write 23 things you are grateful for in your life … connect with your heart … find things to laugh at

Mental – read, think, write, dream, explore … enjoy some mental stimulation … do a puzzle, play with a mindmap … write down a list of things you’ve always wanted to learn … ask yourself interesting questions and see how many intriquing answers come up

Spiritual – be quiet … listen to your intuition … be aware of everything you do… engage with whatever deity you worship … and if you’re a happy atheist then relax with yourself and connect with your inner power

These are only suggestions and as a highly trained agent we know that you will think of many ways to achieve the 6 Big R’s yourself.

In order to successfully achieve your mission you will need to be strong and resist all urges to fill the time with cleaning or tidying or finishing that last bit of paperwork.

You will be faced with numerous challenges as you move to achieve this dangerous mission:

• feeling guilty that you’re doing the 6 Big R’s and not something ‘productive’
• feeling like you don’t deserve to do the 6 Big R’s
• thinking that you don’t have the time or money to do any of the 6 Big R’s
• having other people demand your time and you not being able to say NO
• finding that the 6 Big R’s aren’t as easy as they look

Here at Mission Headquarters we believe in you … we believe you have the guts and determination to do the 6 Big R’s … to stay focussed on the mission.

Our Mission Headquarters Chief [001] will also be on the mission and plans to do the 6 Big R’s over the next 7 days.

001 is our inspiration as she tends to embrace the 6 Big R’s every day … regardless of the dangerous consequences to those around her.

This tape will self destruct in 60 seconds … we need you to let us know in the box below that you are willing and able to choose this mission.

Good Luck.

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I love my senses … I revel in them … I explore them … they give my life undiluted delight.

I adore:

• looking - really looking at texture and colour and movement … everywhere … the fireplace in winter … landscape … art … wind dancing … great design
• tasting – ahhh the taste of things … my bubbles … wonderful food … the taste sensations of sweet and hot and cold and savory … smooth and crunchy … great chocolate
• smelling – my Jo Malone perfume … the herbs I grow … the burnt aroma of lapsang souchong tea … the scent of my sweet peas … my dog … rainy days … food cooking
• hearing – different accents … my family and friends voices … music … nature … even city noises
• touching – velvet  … my dog … hugging friends … running my hands along brick and stone …

My senses help me create beauty in my life. Without them I would feel lost.

I’ve never understood why people create such sterile working and living spaces … particularly when they are running workshops on anything to do with personal development.

I remember doing a 2 day workshop once as a participant.

I paid a lot of money to go and had really high expectations … most of which were dashed … except for the lunches.

The woman running the workshop did it from her home and her husband created the amazing meals. They were a visual/aroma taste sensation … and I really just wanted to hang in the kitchen and learn from him … because all I learnt from the woman was how not to run a workshop … and that’s a story for another time.

I think that some people who run workshops think that the way to look professional is to make the space look and feel like either a school room or a corporate board room.

Waaaaay too boring for me.

I’ve worked with thousands of people over the 25 years of my career … and I’ve never seen any reason why we can’t have fun while we learn or discuss or plan.

I bring chocolates and tasty edibles to groups that I facilitate … even to the men in suits.

I love seeing peoples reactions when they walk into a room I have prepared. There’s chocs and fruit and coloured pens and coloured post its … and they smile.

It creates an unconscious sense of play and people know they are about to embark on something different.

When I did the first Life Dreaming workshop the creation of a sensually beautiful space was a priority [oh yeh ... and I had to create some creative and practical LD sessions as well].

The woman who had nagged and nagged me to create Life Dreaming had also offered her beautiful home as the venue.

On the first night the 8 women arrived to a space that was beautiful and relaxing and gently nourished all the senses:

• scented candles everywhere
• gorgeous silk and brocade cushions to loll on
• beautiful hand made papers to write on
• wine and tea and water and juices
• chocolate and cherries and dips and breads and fruit in beautiful bowls
• soft music [blues and jazz and classical ... not a squeeking dolphin sound anywhere]
• beads and sparkles and stars for the fun things we made to go along with each Life Dreaming activity

I wanted to create a space where women felt they could relax and be cossetted … feel safe … and just luxuriate as they did the Life Dreaming work. I love creating the spaces as much as the women enjoyed being in them.

[Edmund Dulac heaven but the image of fulfilled desire]

My home is a sensate space for me … full of colour and texture. I love growing things and at the moment the house is full of daisies and sweet peas and lavendar I’ve grown. I love cooking and going to my back door to pick coriander and basil and mint and rocket for my salads … the scent of herbs as I pick them can make me dizzy.

I wasn’t always so conscious of the importance of sensual beauty in my life.

In my 20′s I rushed a lot … sometimes because I was trying to get somewhere [education; career; men] … and sometimes because I was trying to avoid things … and sometimes just because so many things are new in your 20′s.

In my 30′s and onward I became more conscious of the power of sensual beauty to relax and comfort and energise me.

It’s a running joke with my friends that when I move to a new house … before the first box is unpacked … I’ll have the fire and candles lit … music playing [and thanks always to Marc who sends me the best music compilations] … a plate of olives and dip ready … and the bubbles open … and one painting hung.

I stop a lot through a day and focus on a sense … looking … listening … smelling … tasting … touching … and revel in it.

I walk Coco dog every day for 90 minutes and at the beginning [and obviously the end] of the walk there is a tree on the path that has a divine scent … it’s delicious and makes me smile. I look forward to the scent every day.

Creating sensual beauty in your life doesn’t have to cost a cent.

Just stop and let your senses … sense.

Take the time to really look at the colours around you. I love doing stuff like saying ‘ I’m going to see how many shades of green I’ll see today’. I live in rural Ireland so that’s a lot of green.

Stop reading and look around you … at light and colour and depth and movement.

Savour the taste of your food and drink.

Stop and sniff things … right now … what are the aromas in the air around you?

Touch … wherever you are now … touch something that’s close by [no ... not the stranger sitting next to you] … how does it feel?

Move – just dance and move around … enjoy how your body works.

Listen … what can you hear? Can you separate all the sounds. I can hear a tractor and the wind and my computer humming … and Coco barking. Put on some music and give your ears a treat.

Explore how you can bring more sensual beauty into your home and life … seriously … a gorgeous cushion in an amazing fabric and colour can lift a mood … growing a few herbs and flowers … making a meal from scratch … having music playing.

I have flowers from my garden through the house and when there are no flowers … I’ll bring in leaves and grasses. Simple and free.

Sensual beauty connects to our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits … it’s absence can be a real loss.

Marc and I created a Life Dreaming Promise that has the word Beauty in it … that’s how important we feel it is in our lives … and we will make everything we create in Life Dreaming beautiful.

When we run our first Life Dreaming Voyage in Bali next year the 8 or so people that come along will be cosseted and surrounded by beauty and sensual delights … and have the best fun doing their own life dreaming … deciding what’s important in their lives right now.

Life Dreaming Activity

1. How do you enjoy your senses and how do you create sensual beauty in your home and life?

2. What would you like to do to add more sensual beauty in your life?

Let me know your answers … pop a comment in the box below.

About a million years ago I did a psychology degree … which was fine at the time.

I learnt a lot more about psychology through my work over 25 years with groups, communities and organisations in Australia and Ireland.

What fascinates me is how and why some people seem to be energised and engaged with their lives … and others … less so.

I was also interested in exploring why some groups and organisations seem to lose their way … get tired … seem to have lost their Vavavoom.

I love researching and reading so those questions led me to motivation theories.

I read a theory over 20 years ago that looks deceptively simple … yet it’s awesomely applicable to individuals and groups.

It’s called Goal Path Theory of Motivation.

I’m not going to go into who developed it and all the layers of the theory … because I forgot most of it!

I pulled together the core elements and used them all the time to help groups and organisations understand why they might be feeling lost, confused and unmotivated.

I’m like most people in that I like my theories to be fairly clear and easy to explain … and able to put them to practical use.

One day as I was writing/drawing the 3 core elements of the theory someone in the group said ‘it looks a bit like a fish’.

I looked at what I was writing and connected all the boxes and created the smiling motivation fish … and it’s been a very useful reflection and planning tool ever since.

Here’s a drawing of my motivation fish … yeh … gasp in awe at my design skills … not!

A fish has to keep moving to stay alive.

If you are feeling unsettled, confused, tired, unsure … then it could very well be because one of the 3 [actually 4 if you include intervening variables] factors aren’t clear.

Confusion is usually a signal that there’s a need for clarity.

Let’s have a look at each of the factors:

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