living out your daydreams

Do you ever have those little daydreams in your head? Those little scenes that you play out whenever you’re feeling especially down? Those happy places that you turn to when everything isn’t going exactly as you planned?

 Like most girls who love literature, writing, coffee and romantic destinations, one of my sweet little daydreams is to spend a day in a Parisian café reading beautiful books and writing beautiful words, maybe I’ll stop sometimes to simply sip my latte and people watch for a while.

But what I never thought about before is that a lot of my little daydreams occur right at home, in small, pretty Canberra.

 In winter during work hours I often gazed out the window and imagined myself walking around the lake, breathing in the scent of flowery perfume and maybe snapping a few photos here and there. On my days off this year I often pictured myself writing on a park bench in the green, cosy park in the city; rather than sitting in my bed with the electric blanket turned all the way up.

Every winter I have those daydreams, and even every summer. But while these places exist, are in fact only a twenty minute drive away, I have never actually lived them out. Last weekend I spent the entire two days outdoors, both in the garden of my parent’s house, and walking among the flowers at Floriade (the annual tulip festival here in Canberra). And I realised just how relaxing and lovely it is to spend time in the sun with friends and good food.

I also realised that I can do that everyday. And so I have started for walks around the lake with my sister after work; and even though I wore impractical shoes and she wore none, resulting in painful blisters (which, I’ll have to admit, was never part of any daydreams I have ever had) it was beautiful to do something that I had dreamed about during the colder months.

Today I decided to make my daydream about writing outside come true, and so I sit here writing to you on a park bench, surrounded by trees and the smell of summer, writing on my impractical laptop that I have yet to master, and living out my daydreams.

So today I challenge you to think of your daydreams that lie close to home: like sitting outside writing; getting a massage; or eating a family sized block of chocolate while watching chick flicks and not feeling guilty; and to do them. And then I want you to take a look at your bigger daydreams, the ones that may take a little planning, and go ahead and start the preparations. Life is too short not to live in our daydreams, no matter how small or big they are.

Ps. I wrote a travel piece for class that was published here if you haven’t had enough of my narcissistic ramblings yet...

Pps. I didn't take the photos, click on them for links  J