The Dreaming Cafe’s new site has launched…
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 22, 2009
Visit us NOW…www.TheDreamingCafe.com
Last week I announced that The Dreaming Cafe’s new website would launch on Earth day, April 22, 2009.
Well, SURPRISE, we launched today, March 22, 2009, four weeks early!!
Why?
Because waiting for everything to be perfect just slows the whole process down.
The new site is a work in progress.
I am using the self hosting, open source, WordPress.org as my new platform. I am currently in the process of ‘hacking’ my own WordPress Theme, so there will be some design changes to the site over the next few months.
In addition, look for these new additions over the next few weeks:
* Inspiring People to Know: Articles and Interviews with Inspiring People and ‘Change Makers’, people who make a difference in their communities and the world.
* Recommended Books: Recommended non-fiction titles covering a wide range of topics and a few fiction titles that are just plain old ‘good stories’.
* Events: Listing Workshops, online classes, tele-seminars and conferences offered by The Dreaming Cafe, as well as, listing ‘recommendations’.
* Articles: Misc. articles covering a wide range of topics, both published and unpublished, that are too long for the traditional blog post or email message.
* The Dreaming Cafe Community: This idea is in the development stage, but I see it as a virtual ‘Dreaming Cafe’ where people come to hang out with old friends, meet new friends, have passionate and interesting conversations, share stories and generally have a great time.
Visit us NOW…www.TheDreamingCafe.com
All the content from this site has been copied over to the new site.
See you there.
Thanks.
Blessings,
Sandy
PS Don’t forget to update your links and bookmarks.
Quick note on Living an Authentic Life
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 21, 2009
Just a quick note on Living an Authentic Life…
My last few posts may have made it sound easy.
It’s not.
I’m just more aware.
Have a great weekend.
Don’t forget to sign up for The Dreaming Cafe’s weekly email message. Thanks!
Living an Authentic Life
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 21, 2009
The theme of ‘Authenticity’ has been a reoccurring topic this week at The Dreaming Cafe.
I believe it is because I had the opportunity to completely immerse myself in The Dreaming Cafe ‘dream’ during my ten-day sabbatical and practice living the life I want. It has been a wonderful ten-days and a very eye-opening one, too.
The Dreaming Cafe has been online now for four weeks. When I started, I made the commitment to write and post something everyday, except Sunday, when I send out The Dreaming Cafe’s weekly email message.
But, I skipped two days. I did not write or post anything on Tuesday, March 10th or Wednesday March 11th . When I went to post Thursday’s book review and saw those two blank days on the calendar, I became very upset with myself.
In the midst of berating myself I took a deep breath, and then another one. When I was calm enough, I went inside and asked myself why was I so upset? What was I feeling? What was really going?
It slowly came to me.
I realized that my words and actions weren’t aligned. I said I was going to write every day and I didn’t.
My number one goal right now is to live as authentically as possible. To me, this means that I follow through on what I say am going to do, that I honor my commitments to myself and to others and that I write, speak, create and act according to my personal values and beliefs.
By missing those two days and not writing or posting because I was feeling sorry for myself, because I had a bad day at work or because I didn’t feel like writing, I let myself down. I was disappointed and angry with myself for not fully embracing the commitment I made to build The Dreaming Cafe.
Following through isn’t based on whether I feel like it. It is about committing to, and having the self discipline and self-respect to take action every day whether I feel like it or not.
Living an authentic life means not only making a commitment, but also taking action. And, taking action is not based how how I feel. It is about putting feelings aside, at least for the moment and, like Nike says, ‘Just do it.’
Have you ever taken action, or not taken action, based on how you felt versus what you said you were going to do? What was the outcome? What does living an authentic life mean to you?
As always, thanks for dropping by.
Please feel free to comment or email me at sandy@thedreamingcafe.com
Book Review: THE MIDDLE PLACE by Kelly Corrigan
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 19, 2009
“The Middle Place” by Kelly Corrigan
First reviewed by Sandra M. Dempsey, January 18, 2009
After seeing Kelly Corrigan read a personal essay she had written on Borders.com, I went straight to the store at lunch the same day and bought the only copy they had in stock. I never even read the dust jacket until I got home.
It was then that I realized this book was about the ‘big C’. I never buy books about stories of woman and cancer. I bought one book when my Mom had breast cancer, but could never bring myself to read it.
I put “The Middle Place” on my bookshelf at the bottom of my ‘to read’ pile.
But, it wouldn’t leave me alone. It seemed to haunt me from the shelf. I finally gave in.
I read this book in one sitting. Once I started I could not put it down. I started at dinner and read the last page at 1035pm, which, if you know me, is pretty late.
Kelly Corrigan’s writing is absolutely captivating in its honesty as she writes about both the mundane and surreal moments in life.
Kelly Corrigan, thirty-six-years-old and just mere weeks from her thirty-seventh birthday comes face to face with every woman’s fear while bathing her two girls when she accidentally discovers a lump in her breast.
“The Middle Place” is not just a story about one woman’s breast cancer. That story is there, but there is so much more. She expertly weaves stories from the past with the present, taking you through routine days of being a sixth grader caught up in prepubescent politics to getting her first chemo treatment. Her stories are roller coaster rides of fear, anger, joy and love, just like real life. She is a real person living a real life.
She is a mother, a wife, a sibling and a friend. She is, at the same time, a father’s daughter and a mother’s daughter, and there is a difference. “The Middle Place” is a honest, emotional story about straddling ‘the middle place’ of being both a daughter and a wife/mother, of growing up and wondering if we ever grow up.
Comment below or email me: Sandy@thedreamingcafe.com
The Bottom of the Learning Curve
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 18, 2009
It’s been a long time since I found myself at the bottom of the learning curve. I don’t like it. I had forgotten what a steep climb it is to the top.
I’ve always viewed myself as a life-long learner. But, this past week I realized I had fallen into a rut.
When was the last time I challenged myself and learned something completely new?
I have mastered the software I use on a daily basis at my ‘day-job’ and I am considered a ’super-user”. I solve problems all day every day. But after doing the same job for over ten years the problems are never new and neither are the solutions.
I read all the time and I consider myself an intelligent and knowledgeable individual. But, there is a difference between being knowledgeable and learning.
My husband always jokes that you can read all you want about boxing and be one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject, but it doesn’t mean a thing if you get in the ring.
I have been thinking and talking about The Dreaming Café website for months, but didn’t get serious about building it until this past week.
Some people have asked me why I just don’t hire someone to design the site for me. They ask, “isn’t that what you’re suppose to do, outsource what you don’t like or don’t know how to do?” Well, yes and no.
I know a few things about cars. I built my first car with the help of my uncle and grandfather. When we started the transmission was in the trunk and the engine was in the back seat. But, just because I can change my oil or my brakes, doesn’t mean I want to. Plus, I don’t like to get dirty. So, although I can do it, I prefer to hire a professional to maintain and repair my car.
When it comes to web-design, just because I don’t know how to do it, doesn’t mean I don’t want to know how.
I wrote all the HTML code, by hand, for my first two websites in 1999 and 2001. I liked designing and building my own websites. It had the right balance of left-brain logic and right-brain creativity.
But, a lot has changed in eight years.
Today I find myself in the very uncomfortable position of being at the bottom of the learning curve in terms of web-design and development.
I know what I want in terms of a website. I know where I want to go. But, it’s frustrating not having the knowledge or skill-set to get there yet.
I know more today than yesterday and tons more than I did last week. Things are slowly coming together, but never at the speed in which I want them to.
It’s been a wake up call. I realize I have become complacent and stagnant.
It’s been a long time since I was at the bottom of the learning curve. It’s uncomfortable, frustrating and a little humbling.
But, it’s also exciting and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since I’ve challenged myself like this.
So, although the learning curve is steep and I find myself at the bottom for the first time in a long time, I am also alive for the first time in a long time.
I just need to remind myself to be patient, to stay in the moment, to take one step at a time, and just keeping moving. The fun isn’t at the top, where I have been for the last few years, it is in the climbing and the learning by doing.
This won’t be the last learning curve I climb. I intend to make sure there are a lot of them in the future.
How about you? Where are you at on the learning curve? Are you comfortably sitting at the top, sliding backwards down the wrong side, or climbing new learning curves?
Share your story, ideas or comments.
Comment below or email me at Sandy@thedreamingcafe.com
Tel-A-Vision
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 18, 2009
SHARE this with EVERYONE. This is an amazing project!!
The landing page video will describe the project. Then click on some of the videos and be prepared to be inspired by our children.
We can all make a difference and it starts with encouraging and supporting the dreams of our children.
Go to their site to read more.
About Tel-A-Vision
“Inspire your children to dream and they will inspire us.” Sandy Dempsey
Avoiding self-censorship and finding my way to authenticity via my Tribe
Posted by: thedreamingcafe on: March 17, 2009
I sometimes find myself censoring my thoughts and avoiding writing about things I am passionate about or that reveal too much of who I am.
It is partly because many of the people who currently receive The Dreaming Café’s weekly email message and read this blog are family, friends and co-workers, people I have known my whole life, or for a long time.
The other part is just plain old fear.
Writing is very personal and an intimate act of sharing and communicating. Opening my heart and soul and sharing my innermost thoughts, ideas, passions, and stories makes me vulnerable and open to criticism.
The negative reactions or criticisms of people who don’t understand what I am doing or feel threatened in some way has the same power to weaken me as Kryptonite does Superman.
Positive feedback is like the soothing coolness of aloe-vera on a burn. It’s an ‘ahhh’ moment.
But, I don’t want either one.
Well, not exactly. I want positive feedback as much as the next person. And, positive feedback, sometimes, is the only thing that keeps me going in the face of my own fears and negativity.
But, I do not want to write or create with the expectation of either.
I want to be honest and open in my writing, my art and my businesses.
When I hold back, the reader may or may not realize it, but I know. When I let go and write freely and openly the reader always knows.
As I continue to explore my writing and expand my creative energy to include the artist and entrepreneur within me, I want each to be an authentic, fearless manifestation of who I am.
In the past, writing, creating and sharing from this level of authenticity has invoked a wide range of emotions in my readers, including gratitude, fear, and anger.
When gratitude comes my way, I am honored and feel very grateful to have had the courage and the opportunity to share something that made a difference.
But, I have come to realize that those that react from fear or anger are not ready to hear, see or participate in what I want to do. And, that is okay. I have been on both sides of this exchange and understand. We are all on our own path and travel in our own timeline. When they are ready they will come back, or they will find someone else to help them and guide them, someone who resonates with who they are, a fellow member of their Tribe.
We all need to find our ‘Tribe’, a concept popularized by Seth Godin in his book TRIBES: WE NEED YOU TO LEAD US.
One of the leaders in my Tribe Barbara Winter helped me find a new, fellow Tribe member, Ken Robert, today. His open and honest writing helped me put my own thoughts, feelings and fears in perspective. If you are interested in reading more about Ken follow this link: Ken Robert
For everyone who drops by, old or new, I hope we can travel together for a bit, or meet up somewhere down the road. If our paths separate, as often they will, I wish you only the best and hope you find other members of your Tribe along the way.
And, if you decide to hang out with me and The Dreaming Cafe, I promise you, and myself, that I will no longer censor what my heart calls me to express, not in my writing, not in my art and not in my businesses.
That’s a little scary, but I realize that no journey, no adventure is without fear, risk, challenge and reward.
The reward is honoring who I am, what I believe and what I feel, and sharing it with others in ways that help them as they travel their own path and experience their own adventures.
Thank you again for inviting me into your life for a few minutes.
Comment or email me at sandy@thedreamingcafe.com
