"Most new discoveries are suddenly-seen things that were always there."
-Suzanne K. Langer 

This is one of the pages from my Dream Book for the Art & Dreams Bound retreat.  As I was working on this page last night, I was thinking about the retreat itself, wondering who I will have the honor to meet and how our time will be spent.  Sharing dreams, creating art, building bonds... I get so excited just thinking about the possibilities... the Dreams that will emerge and the Intentions that will be set. 

Intentions have been on my mind a great deal lately.  People all over the interwebs are still all a buzz about resolutions, intentions and the differences or non-differences.  The last few years, I've set my intentions on my birthday instead of New Years.  It makes me feel like there's not so much pressure and I like that. 

But really, what are intentions and when do they matter?  We've all heard the phrase, "The road to hell was paved with good intentions."  Right?  I hate that phrase, but in a sense it can be true.  Intentions don't mean a whole lot if they're shared after the fact.  In my exerience, letting our intentions be known up front opens more doors, clears more paths and also just seems to make things easier to accomplish. (And who doesn't like easy?!)

This really hit home with me the other day when I was driving and had been cut off a few too many times by insensitive, jerk-face drivers already and one insensitive, jerk-face driver in particular got under my skin. They didn't cut me off, but they didn't let their intentions be known and it held me up as well as a line of traffic behind me. 

I needed to make a left turn.  The car in question was coming towards me.  I sat there with my blinker on waiting (somewhat) patiently for the car to drive on by.  But it didn't.  It slowed, but not enough that I could safely make my turn in front of it and the seven or eight cars right behind them. 

So the car gets closer and what do they do?  They slow and turn down the same street I'm waiting to turn down. 

Never signaling their turn. 

Never letting their intentions be known. 

I, of course, got all pissy and spewed some expletives under my breath and went on my way.  But I didn't stop thinking about it.  It stuck with me for some reason, so I decided to try and look at the situation from a different perspective, one of intention.  It made me see intention in a different light and I realized then that intention isn't meant to keep to yourself. 

I don't set intentions just for myself.  I set them to give others an idea of what to expect when interacting with me.  And if I don't let my intentions be known, I can't expect anyone to get me.

This led to thoughts of the Art & Dreams Bound retreat in May and my intentions with regard to how it goes, how many people will be there, what they will get out of the retreat, what I share with them at the retreat and ultimately what I intend to give at the retreat and what I intend for every person present to receive.

I’m taking the Mondo Beyondo e-course right now and I’m feeling the nudge to be very clear both inwardly and outwardly about my dreams and my intentions.  The jerk-face driver, that I'm now grateful for, reinforced that.

I’ve had dreams of being a part of something like Art & Dreams Bound since I was 15 and went to a leadership seminar that my band teacher took some of us students to.  There was a motivational speaker there that blew me away.  Being able to inspire people the way he did has been a dream I’ve tucked inside and sort of kept to myself all these years. 

Kelly asking me to be a part of her first Purple Cottage retreat was a big step towards making my secret dream a reality. It’s truly a Mondo Beyondo dream for me, and there is nothing I want more than for everyone present to be inspired by the experience at the retreat and in order to give everyone a better idea of what to expect at the retreat, I want to share my intentions.  

My intention is to create an atmosphere (with a lot of help from Kelly) of comfort and safety, where you can let down your guard and relax in the knowledge that you can play and indulge in conversation and creativity, you can get messy with art supplies and find joy in the sounds of paper being torn and soul nourishing laughter. 

I intend to share creative tips, tricks, techniques and prompts that you can incorporate into page after page of art journaling and I intend to give you time to relish in the tranquility of the retreat site. 

Your Dream Book will be your little memento that will serve as a reminder, a guidebook, a reservoir of hope, a repository of brilliant ideas, a place to tuck away the little pieces that make up your creative dreams and wishes.

My intention is for you to leave the retreat full of inspiration, ready to continue following your bliss and dreaming big, creative dreams.  And I intend to cheer you on every step of the way. 

I hope you’ll consider joining Kelly and I in May. There is only space at the retreat site for 24 dreamers and I would love for one of them to be you. 

There is much more information on The Purple Cottage website. 

I can’t wait to learn more about your creative dreams!!! 

xo,

Carmen