Are you like me, feeling like you want to hibernate? It’s getting dark early. The glory that was fall color is changing to bare leaves. We had frost this morning. I’ve already heard Christmas music, and it’s not even Halloween.

I love this season, and I find it depressing. In that tension between delight and depression, I sigh. There’s a part of me that relishes my melancholy, the same side that might wander the moors if I lived where there were moors.

But, speaking honestly between you and me, would I be motivated enough to get out and wander moors? Sounds too damp. The reality is I am more like this woman who plans to stay under a blanket for all of winter.

With moor-wandering out, I will stick to staying cozy and remind myself that my life is wonderful, even when it seems too cold and dark to be getting out of bed every morning.

Before I created the life I have today, I had to dream it. I made sketches in my journal of my ideal life. There was a family and a dog and a horse. First came the dog. Then marriage and the baby. Then we bought enough land where a horse could live.

I couldn’t get a horse right away so I made a sketch of my dream. A painting, really. I painted a horse on the door of the barn. Every day, I saw it and thought to myself, Someday a horse will live here.

Now I have not only a horse, but a pony! And hay in the barn—the best feeling of security I know. When I open the barn door and smell the fresh green scent of alfalfa, I feel secure we’ll make it through winter.

I believe you have to nourish your dreams for them to grow strong.

In the beginning, your dream might not be fully fleshed out. It might be just a hint.

Make a sketch or a painting of your goal: your future horse, your novel cover, what you want your life to look like. Put up a picture where you will see it daily.

You might not be able to make your dream come true right away, but you can give yourself the essence of your dream.

Feed your dream.

Horsey Selfie

Blessing

Lord, remind us to dream more when
we enter darker times.
Turn our hearts to you when
we feel lost.
Keep us close as we travel through hills and valleys.

Tell me your thoughts!

What seed of a dream are you planting now?