Dreambuilding Generates Inspiration

I am an information gatherer. Collecting resources comes as naturally to me as writing or playing with color. My sister jokes that I should just open up an information booth. But what does this have to do with dreambuilding, you ask? One of the things I like to collect is stories. The stories of people not just talking about their dreams, but making them real and living them.

Surrounding myself with entrepreneurs, artists, world travelers, writers, book lovers, life-long learners and innovative thinkers inspires me to pay attention to what’s important to me and my own dreams. The internet offers a great way to do that, so I’d like to pass along some of the resources on my Blog Subscriber list:

Tana Butler was a photographer first with a passion for small farms, specifically those in her home state of California. Add to the mix a love for good food, and voilah!, you’ve got her blog, I Heart Farms. Today’s post profiled Rebecca King, a young chef who is pursuing her dream to have a sheep cheese farm. The online journal of her dream quest can be followed here. I’ve had the great fortune to call three different farms ‘home’ at one point or another, wholeheartedly believe in the nutritional goodness of fresh-fresh-close-to-the-source food, and relish shopping at farmer’s markets. I love what Tana Butler is doing for small farms and farmers and I eagerly await updates to Rebecca King’s sheep dream.

While rambling around the blogosphere, clicking through links found on favorite pit stops, I happened across a blog titled Pomegranates and Paper. Authored by a regular contributor to the print publication, Cloth Paper Scissors, Loretta Benedetto Marvel is a mixed media artist and writer. This magazine had escaped my attention thus far, but intrigued by Loretta’s blogging, I stopped by Border’s Books yesterday. I made a lunchtime Artist’s Date out of a decaff/skim latte and a browse through Cloth Paper Scissors. What a delicious bit of inspiration! Loretta’s article on ‘art journaling’ describes how her blank books become a “playground of wild abandon” and offers tips for the blank-book-shy. I brought the issue home with me and am assembling together on a single shelf in my work-room all of the blank journals in the house.

Hannah is an up-and-coming hair stylist with a passion for fiber, fashion, and four-legged creatures. Her blog, Bunny and Wool, chronicles her stitched, knitted and spun creations, some of which she offers through Etsy.com and Stylehive.com. What I love most about Hannah’s blog is how she keeps me in touch with younger, edgier fashion. Like a post earlier this week that featured pics from Fashion Week and led me to The Sartorialist blog at Style.com. This is a landing that I really might have missed without Hannah’s lead. At left, I’ve posted my favorite pic from that day’s selection of The Sartorialist’s photos of Fashion Week in New York, Paris and Milan. I *heart* the double-strap light blue high-heeled mary jane’s!

Tell me about your blogosphere discoveries!