Living the Dream Life Part 1
Recently I have listened to an audio talk “The Stoic Path” by William B. Irvine on Living the Dream Life.
Bill explains how we are living the dream life, right now. It just might not be our dream, but it definitely is the dream of many others. He goes on to explain that people in developing countries, our ancestors from generations ago, neighbors experiencing anguish, all are examples of people who see our lives as a dream of what they would love theirs to look like. The problem is that we, often, look at others who appear to have a better life than us, and wish we were living their lives instead of ours. What if we stopped this looking to what we don’t have and focus on what we do have and start identifying that as the dream life?
This was a part of my awakening of my own dream life when I was talking with my husband last night about my desire to move to Tuscany. I had this dream in my head of how much I would be able to increase the quality of my life if only I could live in Tuscany. Then, it hit me. What if I could live like they do in Tuscany simply by choosing to live that way in my own home in Orlando, Florida. What if the dream is as possible here as it would be there? So, then I got interested in clearly defining the characteristics of living in Tuscany that I have so coveted for the past couple of years and that I am so eager to experience…if only I could get there. Here is what I came up with:
I would be connected to the earth. I would plant, tend, and harvest a garden. I would pick food from my personal garden and I would use that food to make fresh and delicious meals.
I would walk more and live a very simple life, that allowed me to savor the ordinary and the beauty of simplicity.
I would pick olives from olive trees and I would see those olives turned into the finest oil that I would be able to use in my own kitchen
I would meet local people and explore the culturally identity of the Italian people, the people in which I come from
I would experience quality time with my husband as we explored life in this new way together
I would spend time savoring the beauty and delight of places that I have seen on previous trips there and like I see on Stanley Tucci’s “Finding Italy”
In reviewing this list I realized that I could experience every single one of these things, except for the last one, in my very own life, in the exact home that I have been envisioning myself living this dream life if only I were somewhere else, if only I could have the conditions right for realizing this dream. I am the primary one that creates these conditions, not my circumstances. All that I need to do is begin a garden in my own backyard and attend to it regularly. I can prioritize walking to places and finding fresh markets where local people gather to share what they have made with their own hands on their own land. I can pick strawberries in February, blueberries in May, and I am sure so much else, if I just learn more about the local delicacies that grow in my own area. I can take time to interview my living ancestors and learn more about my family heritage and I can take the time to connect more to the community that I live in now, to feel deep connection and appreciation to the people that are my neighbors. All of this will impact the life that I share with my husband, and we will be able to get to know one another on a deeper level and appreciate one another in a deeper way by changing the way we live in our own home. Maybe we will choose to take a vacation to Tuscany to spend a couple of weeks enjoying the unique beauty and cuisine of the region, and that will be a great experience, but I won’t want to be away for too long, because my dream life will be awaiting me at home.
So, I am off to the store to shop for some seeds and research the best tips for gardening in Florida. Today, I am living my dream life in my own backyard. How can you begin living your dream life today?
