Dream – Kim Koning

This week I read a blog post of a good friend’s about her dream writing retreat if she won lotto. It did not take me long to figure out my dream writing retreat. I have already been there and was entranced and charmed. My dream writing retreat is Greece. There are many reasons why this is my dream retreat. Let me tell you about why of all the places in the world, this would be my dream and will be my future writing retreat.

For me Greece is a magical blending of the Ancient and the Modern. It is a place where you can walk with closed eyes and hear the thundering of the chariots. It is a place of spiritual power and a place that has more stories than can be told in a lifetime at the foundation of its heart. I went to Greece and I fell in love with the country, the people and the culture. There is a timeless essence to being in Greece that lends itself to the timelessness of creativity. Inspiration does not have an era or a timeline. It is as old as time itself.

My strongest memories of Greece are the scent of oranges and lemons. Wherever you go in Greece you will be assailed by the sweet and tangy scents of oranges and lemons. It is a place of donkeys and motorbikes. It is a place of ancient ruins and modern luxury resorts. It is a place where the great Philosophers of time called home and found their inspiration. It is a place of mathematics and poetry.

When you are in Greece, time seems to be suspended and you enter a place where both the Ancient and the New can be together in one place and transcending the element of time. This is a place where life and living is revered. This is a place where a simple meal is appreciated and relished over 3 hours. This is a place where love and lore come home to rest. This is a place where every moment of life is appreciated and time is worshipped. This is place where you do take a moment to enjoy the simpler things in life. This is a place where family is revered and where fierce loyalty binds all.

I remember when I left Greece, I wept bitterly. For here I had found my true home. It is a place that sings to my soul. I still travel there at night in my dreams. It is the place in my mind that I escape to when I need a respite from daily life. My heart and soul belong to this ancient home of Philosophy and Inspiration. I made a vow to Greece when I left that I would come home to her. I would come home to this place of beauty and power.

I want to feel the power of magic coursing through my veins as I stand once more in the ancient ruins of The Acropolis. I want to view the horizon from her rugged cliff-tops. I want to ride on the back of a donkey, that most humble of creatures integral to Greek culture, up a mountain side to my blue-doored and white-walled home. My view will be that of the brilliant blues and greens of the magical Mediterranean sea. I want to taste fresh seafood caught that day in the bounty of this sea. I want to know that here I am finally at home. This is the place that my gypsy heart calls home.

I believe that there is a certain place in the world where your heart,soul,mind and body just feel enriched and feel “at home”. My place is Greece. The land of the legends and myths, land of Eros and Romance. The land where love and poetry are the cornerstones of this culture. Step into the home of democracy and freedom. Walk in the pathways of Socrates and Homer. Let the grandeur of the ancients seep into your veins. Swim in the fountains of the ancient nymphs and play in the playgrounds of the Ancients.

Come join me in Greece and be inspired by the rugged beauty of cliff tops, the endless orchards of Olive trees, the traversing of goats and donkeys, the magical blues and greens of the Mediterranean, the sweet and tangy blended scents of oranges and lemons. Take a seat on the roof of my cerulean blue-doored and blue shuttered, white-walled home and forget time and the rush to squander time. Watch the fishing boats come in as you take in a magnificent sunset that has seen the passing and stilling of time as the centuries roll by. Be taken in and charmed by the many superstitions that these lyrical people believe in. Step into the land of the Olympians and take your lessons for living from the rich spirit of this culture.

Greece – My True Home.

The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece! Where burning Sappho loved and sung. Where grew the arts of war and peace,– Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung! Eternal summer gilds them yet, But all, except their sun, is set.
Author: Lord Byron (George Gordon Noel Byron)
Source: Don Juan (canto III, st. 86)

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence.
Author: John Milton
Source: Paradise Regained (bk. IV, l. 240)

To Greece we give our shining blades.

Author: Thomas Moore
Source: Evenings in Greece–First Evening

If noble death be virtue`s chiefest part, We above all men are by Fortune blest, Striving with freedom`s crown to honor Greece, we died, and here in endless glory rest – Simonides

Greece is like a mirror. It makes you suffer. Then you learn. To live alone? To live. With what you are.”

— John Fowles.

In many ways we are all sons and daughters of Ancient Greece.

-Nia Vardolos

To describe Greece I would share with you a tomato on the sandy beaches of Skopellos, open a sea urchin with my penknife and serve you the scarlet eggs inside while the salt stretches the skin on our backs. – Nicholas Papandreou

© All Rights reserved Kim Koning.

Eight of the best retreats in Britain and Europe (telegraph.co.uk)
Incredible Image: 24-hours shot from Greece’s Temple of Poseidon (thenextweb.com)
ancient city of athens – Athens, Greece (travelpod.com)
Interior Inspiration from Greece Roundup (apartmenttherapy.com)
Writing Immersion Organizes Writing And Yoga Retreat In June 2011 (your-story.org)

Countdown to Publication: 41 Days – She Writes.

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: Does this path have a heart?”

Today’s post is one about “Not Quitting”. I have been reading a lot of posts online this week about writers not quitting. Often times as a “Creative” our worst enemy is ourself. When you strive for success in the field of the Arts – Writing, Photography, Art, Music – you are held against a benchmark of what’s POSSIBLE and what’s simply a DREAM or a FANTASY. Society tends to look at us Creatives with pity and dismissal. We are seen as “Dreamers” with “Heads up in the clouds”. They describe us as EMOTIONAL and SENSITIVE. At best we are TEMPERAMENTAL and at worst we are UNSTABLE and UNPREDICTABLE. I am not saying that any of these descriptions do not fit a CREATIVE.

Yes, we are emotional creatures.

Yes, we are dreamers.

Yes, we are more in tune with being sensitive.

Yes, we can even be temperamental.

But where society sees weakness and childishness I see courage and imagination. Where society sees emotional as a weakness, I deem it a strength. We are human beings. We are emotional creatures by nature. Emotion and Imagination is what sets our genus aside from all other creatures in the world. I see courage because to chase after your dreams in a world where society sees dreaming as childish takes great courage. We face judgement and rejection as commonplace. We are judged as people by what we write, paint, play, sing, photograph. We are not separate from our dreams. Our chosen pathway does not have a Monday to Friday schedule and is not limited to 9-5. Our pathway is our life. It is who we are. To not do what inspires us, to not seek after that elusive muse would rob our bodies of our souls.

Society will not understand your STRIVING after what seems to be an IMPOSSIBLE dream. Society will not understand your NEED to write that story, take that photograph, compose that melody, paint that scene. But Society in the end are the people who buy your book, buy your cd, hang your photograph in their lounge and collect your paintings. So why the contradiction? Why does Society buy your IMPOSSIBLE, your DREAM? Society buys it because they see your soul reflected in your work, they see your vulnerability, your nakedness but most of all they see and respect your courage. Your IMPOSSIBLE has now become POSSIBLE. You are validated. Society still might not understand you but your courage and your “Never say die” attitude in the face of a DREAM and IMPOSSIBLE WILL win them over. They may not understand you but believe me that they want to be you. It takes courage to turn away from the practical route in life and follow a pathway that is not certain. The path we choose in our creative dreams is a narrow one and the one least chosen. It is ofttimes rocky and filled with more dangers and fears then hopes. But it is the only path for us to take to fulfill our personal legend in this world.

““When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”” ~ Paulo Coelho

2011 is like this for me so far…definitely living this quote at the moment. Sometimes in life you just have to ask for what you truly want and I believe that if you ask with the right passion and heart behind it, these things will be achieved. It is the thought of “POSSIBILITY” as an action. If you believe anything is POSSIBLE, then you banish fear and doubt and the POSSIBLE becomes PROBABLE and then becomes REAL.

So today’s Thursday Tips are based on what I have written above and what I have read above:

When you want something – put it out there. Write it on a piece on paper, place it in a balloon and release the balloon. Let the heavens, sun and moon take care of your dream and desire.
Believe in yourself – only YOU can be your greatest obstacle to success and only YOU can be the key to your success
Follow your pathway unswervingly – a slow, steady tread will get you past the rocky areas safely onto smoother ground.
Visualise your dreams being reality, your impossible being possible.
Keep a vision board or a vision journal – catalogue your hopes and dreams just as you would diarise and schedule your work appointments.
Treat your writing, your photography, your art, your music as your career and your lifestyle. When people ask what you do, tell them You are a … Writer / Photographer / Sculptor / Painter / Musician. If you believe it and live it, they will believe you and accept you.
Live your art – immerse yourself in what inspires you. Seek out your muse and your inspiration. Spend time in nature. Let the world in all its little miracles and impossibilities inspire you. If an Oak tree is contained in an acorn, what more is contained within you.
Do not give up! Do not quit! Take Courage! Press on!
Rejection is not a failure. Rejection is not a judgement. It is but one rung on your ladder to the stars of success. It is a building block of cement in your palace of POSSIBLE.
Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Surround yourself with other creative people who understand your fears and hopes. Live creative. Speak creative. Act Creative.

“”Courage does not always roar.

Sometimes courage is the quiet voice

at the end of the day saying:

“I WILL TRY AGAIN Tomorrow””

~ Mary Ann Radmacher ~

“Your time is limited,

so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.

Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out you inner voice.

And most important,

Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary.

~ Steve Jobs ~

Live your art. Be your art. Breathe your art. It is this that makes you unique and special. Nobody else has your voice. Nobody else has your pathway. Nobody else can be You. Your pathway is one that will teach inspiration and courage in others. Your art is one that will fuel imaginations and create dreams. Your pathway is a noble one. The calling to be creative is given to many but heeded by few. Take up your calling with honour and pride. You are burning new pathways for those that come after you. It is the creatives in our world who burn bright paths that guide millions. You are one of these bright lights in a dim place. Shine brightly. Even a tiny match can brighten a darkened hall. That is the power of creativity, art and imagination. It is this power that you have the unique ability to harness. This sets you apart in a world of ordinary and cynical. Be set apart and the rest will follow your trail.

Fear Is A Good Thing, Just Don’t Indulge (blogs.forbes.com)
Beyond Ego (rightbraintherapy.net)
Colouring outside the lines (dragonflyscrolls.wordpress.com)
The Stuff That Dreams are Made of: Part Ii (socyberty.com)

Tag: Dream

Step into a space between time…

Related Articles

Related Articles