How do you organize your life around your dreams? Start by asking yourself:
WHAT ARE MY DREAMS?
Then let the Water Element help you do the work! Yes, the Water Element could help, and winter is the perfect time for connecting to your intuition, reflecting, and dreaming! Whether you know your dreams or need to remember them, water activities will strengthen your resolve, bring clarity, and restore you so that you’re ready to take your dreams into reality. Organizing your life around your dreams versus your dreams vying to fit into your life.
The Water element is associated with winter. When you think about the qualities that winter encourages: spending time inside, getting cozy, rest, and reflection, sitting around the fire dreaming, hearing the whispers in the stillness—all water activities, you can see why they are related. This is particularly evident in the Midwest where we’re already covered in snow, it’s downright cold outside, and the birds, squirrels, buds, my puppy—many are going under the covers to continue dreaming.
Water is all about dreaming, remembering, resting. Retreating for restoration. Solitude and spaciousness. Flowing in and out of situations effortlessly, like a stream moving between rocks and crevices. Still. Incubating. Penetrating. Forceful, changing the earth quickly, or over time. Deeply connected to secrets and the wisdom of our ancestors, the information in our DNA. The womb. Instincts—our innate knowing. Mysterious like the depth of the ocean. Water is being true to oneself, authentic, original. Keeping it real. Hydrating. Necessary for life.
Of the five elements, Water is one of two (the other being Fire) that are fast acting. Meaning that Water has the power to make changes quickly. Just think of a large wave, tsunami, hurricane. This water energy can change the landscape in an instant. Another side of water is affecting change over time. Imagine water that washes over rocks, slowly, etching out a new path. Also powerful, just a different timeline. Water is also known for going with the flow, weaving and winding in and around whatever is in its path. Which one of these methods would support your dreams? Does your dream need a powerful infusion of energy and force like a large wave? Does it need to be allowed to create itself over time, slowly etching out a path forward? Does it need to go with the flow, quietly weaving and winding around any obstacles in its way—while it becomes a reality? This could depend on the stage of your dream. Has it been shouting to you? Can you feel it just around the corner? Has it been a whisper that you can only hear when you slow down? Use this time to tap into your intuition, to listen to the wisdom in your bones, to rest and dream, to find out what your dream needs. Then become like water—a large wave, a persistent river, or a winding stream—and watch your dreams grow into reality.
Do you need help connecting with or remembering your dreams. Use your personal values as a doorway. Our dreams are integral to our values. Inseparable. What do you value? What’s important to you? What makes you feel alive? These don’t need to be dramatic and life shattering things. They can be quite simple. Some of the values associated with Water are: authenticity, flow, rest, resilience, solitude, truth, wisdom, intuition. Any one of those values could support a dream. To demonstrate how this works, I’ll use the example of rest. How might getting more rest reconnect you with your dream? And the more you relax, do your dreams become more vivid? How could rest help you get more clarity, more connection, more peace? More energy. Choose a water value that you connect with, and follow the thread. What’s the chain of events that would unfold if you gave this value more space in your life? How could this open you up to remembering your dreams, and seeing a path forward? All values lead you back to yourself, and your dreams.
Feng Shui is another way to organize your life around your dreams. Notice how you use your space, is there room for the activities of your dreams? Is there space for you to do the things you dream of doing? Or are those things in boxes and cupboards? Start by believing in your dream, and make some room.
In your home, you can use the water element to clear stagnant energy, attract opportunities, and support your dreams. To add water to your space, use the colors black or blue. This can be done with rugs, art, furniture, decor. Use water features like fountains, images of water, mirrors, or glass to get things moving. Place these in areas or guas that need a boost of energy. (Read previous blogs to learn about the bagua.) Use wavy, water-like patterns in fabrics or objects to represent water energy. Connect them to your dream in some way. A reflection of your vision. When you first place an object, be very conscious of the change you want to initiate. This object is carrying that energy! This will be reflected back to you every time you turn on that fountain, pass that piece of art, every time you step on that rug. They are energetically connecting you to your vision. Try it out! Your space reflects your life!
Whether you let the water element do the work by sitting back to rest and reflect, through exploring your personal values, or through reimagining or amping up the water energy in your home—remember, small moves create big changes. You’re building a strong foundation for your dreams, one that can last a lifetime!