Where the sidewalk of my dreams led me

Recently,  I asked my dreams to show me my dharma/my life’s work. Then I dreamed I was writing a message in chalk on the sidewalk.

That morning, I texted a friend and asked her, “If this were your dream, what would it mean?” She typed back: “Because a sidewalk is where you meet people you are close to, I think the message is about sharing writing in community.”

This exchange took place while I was scribbling notes for an e-newsletter about the One Year Anniversary of Dreaming on the Page, an online school for dreamers and writers.

That’s when I realized the dream was about the Dreaming on the Page courses and community that I’ve nurtured and developed over the past year! After all, the members of this vibrant and unique community, are the people I would meet on that chalk-decorated sidewalk in my dreams. And developing this online platform has become a source of meaningful, soulful, and purposeful work.

What a difference a year can make

It’s hard to believe that I envisioned the idea for this online school and community only a little more than a year ago. At the time I was feeling discouraged from a low-sales report from my publisher and I couldn’t quite figure out how to make the transition from teaching in a classroom to creating my own educational platform.

I was on my way to the pool to swim laps, and I felt like throwing in the towel. (The metaphorical one, not the one in my swim bag.) But as I swam, a realization floated up from my subconscious: I didn’t want to just write, and I didn’t want to just teach. I wanted to inspire, share, and connect meaningfully with others. And I wanted to do that with like-minded (like-hearted) souls.

And then I knew just what form that kind of work would take.

After a few months of sketching out curricula, and researching online teaching platforms, (then learning to use said teaching platforms!) on March 4th, 2020 I officially launched Dreaming on the Page online. Today, that online school looks very much like the one I dreamed up in the pool while swimming on that late autumn afternoon.

Just as I imagined

Dreaming on the Page offers a variety of options for engagement, including:

• Asynchronous subscription courses that participants can complete at times that work for them. 
• Live videoconference workshops where dreamy writers from around the world meet in small groups to create and share writing inspired by dreams and the imagination —and get to know one another. 
• Community forums where we share our writing, our dreams, our intentions, challenges, and successes with each other.

We’re also marking one year of getting through tough times together

There was a lot I couldn’t have imagined, as well:

• I could never have imagined that 9 days after launching Dreaming on the Page online, the Covid-19 pandemic would be tearing through our communities worldwide, triggering massive shutdowns.
• I couldn’t have imagined the avalanche of political, social, environmental, and cultural upheaval that has upended our lives even further.
• Nor could I have imagined how essential, beautiful, and heart-full, our Dreaming on the Page connections would become in these unprecedented times.

This year I have witnessed how telling our stories, sharing our dreams, and connecting with the deep sources of wisdom and guidance that reside within us became the scaffolding we needed to build meaning and create circles of solace during these intensely challenging times.

Grab a piece of cake and something festive to drink. We’ve made it through this pandemic year. And we’ve done it with whatever sense of grace, purpose, and creativity we could muster. And for that, we deserve to celebrate.

Take a peek at what I’ve been building this past year!

Learn about Dreaming on the Page classes for dreamers, writers, and creative souls!

Dreaming on the Page