Hello and welcome, here we are at last, or at first really.  My first blog post.  The first day of autumn, an auspicious day for a new adventure.

Now you’re asking yourself, ‘she’s got ‘autumn’ and ‘auspicious’ and ‘adventure’ in one sentence why would I keep reading?’

Firstly, I don’t mind if you don’t.  Stop now, turn off whatever device you’re reading this on and go outside.  Breathe in deeply, stretch, and smile.  Off you go…

Still here?  OK.  Here’s the deal with me.  I love words and I believe they have the power to change lives.  And if we’re really honest, all of us could do with a little change somewhere in our lives. So, mostly what you’ll get will be words about inspiring, instructing or involving you to go and do something, something different, or at least to think about it differently.  To ‘be the change you want to see in the world’ as Ghandi said, words which, by the way, cover all three – they inspire, instruct and involve, works for me.

‘Why bother’ you ask?  Because unless you do something different, nothing is going to change in your life.  Now, if your life is perfect just the way it is, stop reading, you can relax, this blog is not for you, seriously.  But if you feel like the energy and interest in your life could move up a notch, or as if you might have some hidden passion worth exploring, then check in from time to time.  And maybe you’ll find words that help you think differently, or feel differently and that may even get you started to actually doing something differently.

Still asking what I’m about?  I’m about conversations with purpose, empowering women, creativity, confidence, conscious leadership, wellbeing, learning and relationships.  I’m a crazy, ridiculous optimist, no matter what huge dark clouds I find myself under, and I have had some massive ones, somehow I can always see the silver lining.  And I want to encourage you to see the silver lining, to find your dream, to get your direction and to go do it.

When I was young I dreamed of being a writer, even more than I dreamed of wanting to be a green grocer and an astronaut.  Now I didn’t get to be the last two and I got distracted for about 35 years from the first one, but I’m here to tell you, it’s never too late to start fresh, to find your dream and start living it.

Last night, as if summer wanted a last hoorah, a big storm thundered through and this morning the slate is clean, the world is sparkly and ready for a new season, a fresh start. Are you?

Try it, take a deep breath, close your eyes and imagine what change you want to see in your world, imagine your dream really, really big, in colour, with sound and smell and texture – take your time.  Now imagine a long, strong, silver thread that connects that big dream to you.  You look down and realise you’re holding the thread in your hand, you can tug on it and bring the dream closer, it’s easy.  Go ahead, tug, feel it coming closer. Now, if you feel really brave, take one small step towards it.  And if you are not sure what that step is, try this – Step 1, make my dream conscious, write down your dream on a piece of paper (write by hand is the best way) and stick it up where you can see it and read it everyday.  And do that, read it at the start of everyday and think about what it would be like and smile…

Signing off today in memory of one of my heroes who helped me dream of other worlds, thanks Mr Spock.

Live long and prosper…

I’d love to hear what your big dream looks like and what your first small step is.  You can post on the Facebook page, tweet with #bigdreams #smallsteps or send me an email.

And if you would rather listen than read, then head over to SoundCloud and download the audio HERE.

Thanks for reading.

Veronica