Dreamland

Dreamland is the original cyberspace, our own built-in spiritual virtual reality.

Our dreams take us into other worlds, alternative realities that help us make sense of day-to-day life.

Dreaming is a connection to our unconscious, to our selves.

It is to be treasured.

Isn't it extraordinary that an activity which takes up so much of our lives is so often relegated into the realms of unimportance.

We are based on dreams, they are our centre.

Listen to them.

"Dreams are like stars....you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny."
~~ Anonymous


Top photo taken in Wisconsin, USA in August 2010. It was early in the morning and we had gone to the pier to watch the Tall ships arrive. As you could imagine we saw very little.


A pottery sculpture by my multitalented friend Dianne - December 2007

Déjà Vu Sensations

There are many theories as to what causes déjà vu.

One hold that our "spirit" can actually travel faster in time than our earthbound bodies so it charges off into the future from time to time for reasons we can't explain.

Another claims that it's because we are reincarnated and old memories from past lives are seeping through into our current consciousness.

And then there's the parallel Universe theory that suggests our lives are always splitting off into different directions whenever we make big decisions and that at the point of experiencing déjà vu we are connecting with these parallel worlds.

All of which rather ignores the actual sensation of déjà vu that is simply joyous and mesmerising regardless of what it actually is.

Déjà vu experiences stay with us too, logging themselves into our memory banks where they can be withdrawn whenever those "déjà vu" conversations occur, usually over a few glasses of wine late at night!


"There's an opposite to déjà vu. They call it jamais vu. It's when you meet the same people or visit places, again and again, but each time is the first. Everybody is always a stranger. Nothing is ever familiar."
~~ Chuck Palahniuk


Top photo is a sketch penned by my friend Dianne in 2004 after she has suffered a stroke in 1999. She said it described how she felt when everything was muddled in her brain.

When Annemarie and I were in Norway in July 2010 and we stopped at this place for a short while, an eeriness came over me as I photographed this scene. I wanted to hop in that boat and paddle into the mist.

Yin and Yang Worlds

In the yin and yang worlds of work and life you'll often find opposite methods of doing a similar thing.

Usually one is quicker and more efficient.

For instance, take the speedy commuter train verses the dawdling bus.

If the commuter train is spawned from the world of "work" then the bus is surely from the world of "life" and the top deck of a bus, therefore, is a slice of heaven.

The mental map you draw of the landmarks on your journey will soon join up with mental maps of previous journeys - then the once dark and daunting city will become familiar and bright.

From the top deck you can gawk at people milling in the streets below, hide behind shades in the summer sun or doze freely, knowing that a little bell will precede every stop and wake you if your slumber threatens to sink too deep.


"Imagination is more important than knowledge; knowledge is limited, while imagination encircles the universe."
~~ Einstein


My friend Dianne loves her garden and made this "tree face" person to welcome visitors to her house. - October 2011

Make a Pot of Tea

When life gets too much don't fall for the doctor's potions and pills that conspire with your body to get you straight back to work.

Have the confidence to listen to yourself when you can feel that something is wrong.

It's not you that's wrong!!

You're having an entirely reasonable reaction to the chaos of the modern world.

There's nothing wrong with having enough of chaos every now and then.

Put a "Do Not Disturb" sign up outside your front door.

Ignore the phone when it rings.

Turn your mobile to silent and fling it into the bottom of an old drawer.

Forget about the newspaper.

Unplug the TV.

Unplug the computer.

Leave all the chores for tomorrow.

AND MAKE A POT OF TEA!


"Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos"
~~ Will Durant


Back in April 2008 when I was addicted to Scrapblog several friends and myself formed a Tea Pot Club and we each made a scrapblog of our teapot. This is my grandmothers teapot.

Patience - It Ain't Easy!

There are moments when other people just set you off, and you lose your patience.

It is the downfall of many of us — co-workers, children, spouses, other drivers, irritating people on the train — they can grate, they can anger.

And it can ruin your day. You clench your jaw, you replay imaginary arguments in your head, or worse, you snap. And then you feel like crap.

How can we find the patience?

I will admit that I’m no saint. Just like everyone else, I get annoyed, and I will say things in a less-than-kind tone........I’m learning!

Here’s what helps me:

First, I learn to be aware of the emotions that rush up from nowhere.

I learn to accept those emotions as perfectly fine.
And I watch them, but don’t act.

I will talk to those emotions, like they’re a little child:
it’s OK to be mad, but breathe.

I remind my childlike emotions:
other people are different, and that’s good.

When people live and work together, there will be friction, and that is a part of the mix of humanity.

I remind myself:
life is too short to waste my days in irritation and anger. Don’t let other people’s problems become my own.

I then give thanks.

Gratitude solves all problems.

I am grateful for having this friend, or stranger, in my life, and I’m grateful for the chance to even be here, and for the incredible life I have.

Patience isn’t an easy thing, but the alternative is much worse.

Love will triumph if we let it.

"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears."
~~ Barbara Johnson


Ellie, one of my cats, is teaching me patience and I love her dearly for it. Photo taken March 2008.

The Greatest Speech Ever Made

Charlie Chaplin's final speech in "The Great Dictator".

What makes this even more amazing is the fact that this is Charlie Chaplin, a comedian. He wrote this movie. And within the comedy there is this message, a man's powerful message. He drops the comedy for a few minutes to spill this.

The passion he has is just amazing.

2:05 "Machine men, with machine minds, and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are MEN." I love how he says that.

"Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness"......


"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening."
~~ Dorothy Sarnoff