Day Six - Plan Your Peace

Are there any changes you could make to your schedule for at least a solid month, in order to pursue your goal or dream? Brainstorm in your journal about this.

A very good planning workshop is Ali Brown's Plan Your Peace. I highly recommend this workshop as it's jam packed with valuable tools and priceless knowledge. 

Day Five - Positive Self Talk

Pause for a moment and contemplate how you talk to yourself inwardly. Journal any negative self-talk and then turn it into a positive.

Check out the following Pinterest board HERE for positive power quotes to help you. 

Make Peace with Your Light

At the time of writing it is a waxing crescent moon, said to represent courage, moving forwards and faith. How does this relate to your dreams? Well, the opposite of all these is fear and being stuck in the past. All things that kill our dreams.

Recently I found myself contemplating fear of rejection. How I'm constantly holding myself back creatively because of this fear. Even in circles where I do feel safe and feel I can be myself, I walk away worrying if I'm too much. This can snowball into an avalanche of negative thinking. I then replay things over and over...living in the past. 

I don't really have a solid bedrock (parents/family) to turn to in times where I need reassurance, so I have to rely on adult me. I draw upon the wisdom of experience here and what I would tell others. People balk over so called "self-help" books, but honestly, some of those authors have been my saving grace. There's nothing like someone sharing their own experiences with you and telling you "everything is going to be alright." It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I really lament not being able to pop round a parents house and get a reassuring hug. But I know I'm not alone in this.

Just as this fear really got a hold of me I read something that completely disabled it of its power; 

"Make peace with your own magnificence as you boldly continue through life."

There is so much in that one sentence! Make peace suggests that you struggle with who you are, with characteristics that might scare you. When you allow them to shine, fear steps in telling you that you'll be rejected if you continue to shine in that way. So you try and hold back, making yourself more "acceptable". 

magnificent

adjective

 /mæɡˈnɪf·ə·sənt/

​

causing admiration esp. because of an unusual quality such as great size or beauty.

If we lean more towards being introvert, or have fears of rejection, anything that brings attention - causing admiration, unusual quality - can make us feel extremely vulnerable. We have an inner urge to be ourselves and to shine, but it can be too risky. If we take that risk we end up paying for it with intense bouts of worry. 

The reason that one sentence spoke to me was because someone else was stating, you are magnificent, we all are, and we need to make peace with this fact, thus giving us permission to shine and be our unique, quirky selves. If we all allowed ourselves to shine, imagine how different the world would be.

It's so incredibly easy to play it safe, and not rock the boat. However, we will have to live with the "what if" regret. Life is a precious gift and we don't want to waste it, hiding our lights.

To realise our dreams takes courage. If it was easy, we'd all be living our dreams right now. But even then, once one dream is realised or goal fulfilled, there will always be another to strive for. And in the pursuit of our dreams we also grow. And that can be very uncomfortable.

So today, embrace your own magnificence! What are those unusual quirks you try and hide? Begin to embrace them. You can be one hundred percent sure that you're not alone in this!

Day Four - Equip Yourself

For today's prompt ask yourself what would help equip you to achieve your goal or dream. Signing up to a workshop? A teacher? Art supplies? Perhaps joining a group?

The Dream Create Journal group actually has a mentorship scheme. So if you have a skill to share you can offer your services. So you can even check that mentorship scheme to see if you can find a mentor should it help with your goal/dream.

Day Three - Create Your Vision

Today's prompt is to create a vision board of your chosen goal or dream. I have included a couple unlocked video tutorials from my Patreon. You can first create a board on Pinterest to help you, then print off some images from there. It will really help to do this in your journal and keep it close to you for inspiration.

Day Two - Set Your Intentions

Today we will be setting our intentions in relation to our goal or dream. In a nutshell, an intention is creative power. All things we wish to manifest in our lives start with a thought. Next we must set the intention. Think of intentions as seeds. When setting and writing our intentions out, we must be optimistic and positive. For example,

I will find places of interest locally and have good fortune when I set out to film them. I will be inspired and create art to reflect what I feel. I will schedule in time to do this once a week.

We can combine our intentions with affirmations. Affirmations are like fuel to our fire. They keep us going. They are a fantastic form of self-encouragement. But they must always be activated with faith. Even when you don't FEEL like having faith or believing, just choosing to is enough. We all have low days. Days when we struggle to feel inspired or positive. That's okay! Just hold on to your intentions knowing that with each passing day, you're one step closer to realising them! 

I will be including videos in some of the prompt blog posts, from my channel with the hopes that they will give you some inspiration. Today's is titled 'Affirmation Inspiration' and was filmed for the last journal challenge we did.

Day One - Gathering

@esteejanssens

A short disclaimer before we begin: This is not like any other journaling challenge you may be used to. In fact, I'd rather not call it a challenge. Maybe we should call it a project? Yes, there will be prompts each day BUT,you are not required to do them every day or in order. The prompts are merely guides and reminders. Or points of inspiration if you will. 

Day One - Gathering Materials

You will need to choose a goal or dream. Please choose something that inspires you and is not too overwhelming. Maybe let this be a time to pick something out of the box, or something that requires a stretch of the imagination. 

I have a goal to research and visit places of ancient and spiritual interest in my local area. While also the beauty of nature surrounding them & nature journaling. Where I live is crammed with such places! These will be turned into videos and uploaded online.

@esteejanssens

Next, get yourself a journal. One that inspires you or one where you're not afraid to start filling. In our journals we will be recording explorations, the prompts, research, findings, and so much more. Well, as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. 

You will also need your planner. Look through the month of August and begin to slot in time for this project/challenge. Also, pick one day to spend on yourself. This is to take yourself out on an artists date. That prompt will be day 11, but I'm giving you a heads up now so that you can schedule it in. Again, it doesn't have to be this month, but it will be more profitable to you if you do. 

@esteejanssens

Finally, be open minded with a heart of childlike wonder. Expect the unexpected. Bring your faith into this. Tomorrow, once you have your goal or dream, we will be talking about intentions and start documenting in our journals. 

There is also a Dream Create Journal Pinterest Board for inspiration. If you would like to be added to it in order to pin anything on there that you think will inspire others, do let me know here or in the group. The board can be found HERE.