Life Archives - Dreams, etc. // Minneapolis Lifestyle Blog

Be Unashamed When You Share Your Story

January 16, 2019

“It was hard to share my story and air my dirty laundry.”

I heard these words as I listened to a podcast and I immediately stopped what I was doing to take them in. “And air my dirty laundry.”

It’s hard to share our stories. It’s awkward to share things we’ve done that we wish we hadn’t. It’s uncomfortable to share things that have been done to us. If there’s something we’re struggling with at a certain moment in time, we keep it to ourselves.

Our stories can fill us with shame and embarrassment. So we stay silent and we hold them inside. We present our curated life on Instagram and Facebook and hide the parts that aren’t Pinterest perfect. We view other curated lives and try to hide our “dirty laundry” even more.

Our stories can fill us with shame and embarrassment. We don't want to share our story because we feel we're all alone. The truth is: we're not alone. And our stories have the power to connect us.

Creativity Life

It’s OK to Tip-Toe Into the New Year

January 7, 2019

We’re a week into January and I already feel overwhelmed. Anyone else? No, not overwhelmed by my goals. (I’m slowly, but surely thinking about what I’d like to accomplish in the next week/month.) No, I’m overwhelmed by everything I feel like I should have done.

Here’s the thing. It appears as though everyone knows exactly what they’re going to do and accomplish this year… or, at least, everything they want to do and accomplish. I’ve seen so many photos, videos, and posts about beautifully decorated planners or BuJo spreads. And it was all done before 2019 even started. Everyone was ready to jump into 2019 with both feet and I’m here tip-toeing in.

Some people can jump right into their goals for the new year, others need to tip-toe in. And that's okay., // dreams-etc.com

Adventures Life

Little Things // December 2018

January 3, 2019

Each month I like to practice gratitude by looking back at the little things each month. For me that usually means looking through the photos on my phone and remembering moments that might not come to mind so easily. Let’s take a look back at December!

Mina starts out the month.

Practicing gratitude by celebrating the little things each month. December 2018 included dogs, holidays, birthdays, and beautiful scenery. // dreams-etc.com

Life

Hello 2019 // Reflections on New Starts

January 1, 2019

“My years have been good for awhile. I’m probably due for a bad one soon.”

I was at a friend’s for a Clue-themed murder mystery dinner party and this thought crossed my mind as we rang in the new year.

That year was fine. The following year was exciting: I changed jobs. The year after that had its stresses and began the slow descent into one of my worst years. Let’s not talk about 2017. And last year was beautiful, but was actually a really difficult year for me.

As I looked ahead to 2019 I realized that I started to view a new year with dread. What do you have in store for me, 2019? Are you going to be good or…? I started to think about all the things that could go wrong.

Life

Little Moments // September – November 2018

December 14, 2018

Hello, friends! Happy Friday.

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about something other than books, but that is going to change. I’m not going to stick to a schedule… yet. A schedule is in the works, but for now I want to ease back into blogging and incorporate it back into my life again.

This year has been a whirlwind. I worked a lot and there were times that I felt like I was hardly ever home. And while there were times Dreams, etc. was far from my mind, it’s actually been something I’ve thought quite a bit about throughout the year. Back in February I attended a conference in New York and the entire conference was helpful, but there was one session in particular that made me think about what I want Dreams, etc. After almost a year of having these thoughts circle around in my mind, I’m finally solidifying my vision and why for this space and I’m so excited to dive back into everything. In some ways I’d like to say I’m disappointed that it’s taken me this long to think everything through. In some ways I am, but… I’m also not. If I had moved forward with everything in spring my logo would have looked different than the one I’m working on now, because the design I’m going with now came into my life in July. If I had jumped into everything earlier this year I wouldn’t have had as much time to sit with these thoughts and really work through them. And I probably would have burned out pretty quickly.

But now… now is definitely the time to get back into it. So keep an eye out for a new logo and a new layout. I’ll also share more about my vision for this space soon.

Until then, let’s take a look back at the last few months and the little moments that filled them. What were some of your little moments this fall?

I have an assortment of shapes and sizes for this. Some of them aren’t event the best, but… it is what it is today, I guess.

Creativity Life

3 Things to Consider When Setting Weekly Goals

September 5, 2018

In the past I’ve always been a goal setter, but for a variety of reasons I haven’t been as good about setting them this year. I realized how much this was actually dragging me down. There’s so much I’d like to do, but without these goals to map my way I wasn’t coming close to accomplishing them. So I reached out to a friend and asked if she’d like to set weekly goals. She had also been talking about all the things she wants to accomplish, but nothing was happening. We decided to start setting weekly goals, and also to meet and discuss weekly. We’re tracking our goals in a goals journal–both of us have a notebook that we write them down in. I also like to track a few other things in mine, which I’ll talk about more below.

I just looked through my goals journal and it’s crazy to realize that we’ve only been doing this for a month. It feels like we’ve been doing it longer because of how much it has improved my mindset and how much I’ve accomplished because of it so far. (Things like getting back into the routine of updating the blog.)

If you feel like you’re stuck or not making as much progress as you could in achieving your goals, I highly recommend creating a time and a place (like a goals journal) to start tracking and analyzing the things you’d like to do. Being so intentional about it has been helpful for me. I also recommend doing this with a friend, if you’re able to. The accountability is so helpful! Here are some things to consider as you set your weekly goals.

Life

Little Moments // July + August 2018

September 4, 2018

Each month (in an ideal world) I look back through the photos that I took on my phone and I’m reminded of all the little moments that took place. Those moments that made you smile. Or maybe even those moments that irritated you, but you can look back on them and see that you got through it; they’re over and behind you and they seem like they happened so long ago. For some, they might even be the moments that bring joy in a dark period. Some of them might be part of a bigger memory, and some of them may have been forgotten. But they’re beautiful moments… they show the beauty of every day life.

So instead of looking for the best of the best photos for a grand post, I want to share all those moments. Some of the photos are a little blurry–quick snaps as I went about my day. I didn’t edit out Mina’s eye goop in a few. They’re real life.

In July and August, the little moments looked like…

Life Wellness

Summer Favorites // Wellness Edition

August 31, 2018

Happy Friday! And Happy Almost-September! 😳 Tomorrow is the start of September! I repeat: September. Starts. Tomorrow. And it’s Labor Day weekend. And school has started. So summer is over. I know technically the calendar says September 22 is the start of fall, but everyone knows summer is over once school starts. Seriously. It has been proven in the polls. And by “the polls” I mean a poll that I ran on one of the Facebook pages I manage. A majority of the people said summer is over once school begins. (It was a close vote, but that doesn’t matter, right? 😉)

Since summer is over we can chat about our summer faves. As I compiled a list I realized they all have something in common: they’re all “wellness” items. So, without further ado, here are my summer faves: wellness edition.

Note: Some of the links used in this post are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using one of them I’ll make a commission at no extra cost to you.

Life Wellness

3 Simple Changes I Made to Encourage a Positive Mindset

August 29, 2018

Happy Wednesday! Is it just me or is Wednesday sometimes the hardest day of the week? Even though the weeks typically fly by, I still wake up on Wednesdays and feel like the rest of the week looms ahead. That’s a good description for how life feels sometimes. I marvel at how fast the year goes by, but at the same time, it sometimes feels like the year is an endless sea of work. Now don’t get me wrong. I love the work I do. This is the first time in my career that I can say I really love (most of) the tasks I do on a daily basis. But when I say daily I mean daily… sometimes it is seven days a week. It says a lot about my mindset this year that I haven’t updated this blog much. Not only that, but two of that small number have been posts about how to take care of yourself when you’re in a funk, or frustrated, or generally just feeling down. Yep, that’s how I’ve felt a lot this year and I hate it. So, I decided I needed to take active steps to fix my mindset. Now, before I get into what I’ve done, I want to say that if you have concerns about your mental health, you should definitely seek a professional. They’ll know how to give you the best support and care.

I knew that a lot of my frustration was due to certain stressors in my life and while I can’t necessarily change those stresses (or if I do, it’ll create a new set of “issues” that I’d be frustrated about), so I needed to make changes to my lifestyle that would leave me feeling less frustrated. Here are three things I’ve done to help create a positive mindset.

Life

Don’t Turn Off Your Anthem

August 27, 2018

One summer my musical tastes looked like this: Shania Twain and Kamelot. All I listened to was Kamelot’s The Black Halo (still one of my faves) and … one of Shania’s CDs. (Yes, that’s right. I said “CD.”) I blasted that album all summer long and whenever “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” came on I belted along. I was young, independent, and the world was at my fingertips. That song was my anthem.

I was housesitting one week and I got off work a few hours before my boyfriend was supposed to. We were going out later that night, so I went “home” to hang out with the cats and get some writing in before he came over. When I turned down the street singing along with my anthem I saw his car in the driveway, so I slowed down to get in every second that I could with that song and I thought, “Don’t turn off the car until the song is over. Who cares if he’s there?”

He was seated in a chair out front and got up when he saw me. And I still remember this so clearly:

I turned the car off.

There was a minute left in that song. I could have continued to sing along with my anthem, but when I saw him coming I turned it off.

And I instantly regretted it.

It’s a moment that has stayed with me because I learned something new: don’t ever turn off your anthem.

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