When dreams collide: advice welcome

It's now on my calendar to blog every Saturday.

I planned to last Saturday, but it didn't happen.

I'm blogging today -- but it's tough.

Don't get me wrong.

It's been a great week.

I just spent a 1/2 hour with my daughter leafing through the Harry and David catalog before we ordered this fruit basket, one which she was happy to help pay for out of her allowance.

And, earlier this week, I'd been in in the Bay Area (I grew up in San Jose), reconnected with three of my childhood/college friends, Kathleen, Annette and Lisa, eaten Mexican food and See's candy -- and our Rose Park business trip was both productive and fun.

But here's the problem.

As I live out my dream of building Rose Park, I'm again working 60-70 hours/week, and as a consequence I don't have the energy to keep up with 'dare to dream' as I'd like.

Which really kind of bums me out given how strongly I feel about our daring to dream.

What shall I do as my dreams collide?

What would you do?

Would you blog less frequently?

Would you invite more guest bloggers?

You're my 'dare to dream' blogging team -- what would you advise?

What do you do when your dreams collide?

Are there systergistic solutions?

Related posts:
Right-sizing our dream: Rebecca Nielsen
Affirming our 'I'dentity
Getting in the game
Psyche's 1st Task: Sort the seeds
Of pineapples and friendship

Comments

[Lisle]

I think a combination would be in order, as it's very rare for only one solution to work for very long. Personally, I'd pray for stamina and assign a few household chores out to the kids, and maybe let a few others slide so I'd have time to play with my own stuff. But delegating is very interesting, and often quite productive. I wonder if blogging occasionally could be a good activity for the kids?

[Janna]

Coincidentally (as I was thinking about how much I missed a Dare to Dream post last week), I thought of emailing to see if you wanted me to start looking around for other guest bloggers. Looks like your "energy" was sending out the request for solutions! :)

Like the growth of all things - there is an ebb and flow, dormancy and flourishing. Knowing how much is the organic development of a healthy dream and how much we should control the process is the tricky part. But, my gut says that this period is a time of ebb. Like a wave, the ebbing creates a stronger flow later.

I know that having fewer posts makes me pay more attention to those we get.

[Janika]

My favorite childhood book, "Blueberries for Sal," describes how Little Sal and her mother go blueberry picking and gather blueberries to can for the winter. Little Sal only thinks about eating the blueberries, while her mother thinks about canning the blueberries. Maybe, like Little Sal's mother, you could "can" some blog posts for the "winter," when you know you won't have the time, energy, etc. to write. Perhaps you already do this, but you could keep a small notebook handy to jot down blog post ideas when inspiration strikes. Also, when you do have a window of time, refer to that notebook and write several posts at once and then just "store" them until needed. We all love your posts, but honestly, we can't tell if you wrote them yesterday or three weeks ago! Maybe smaller, daily doses of writing/dreaming would ease the pressure of one big blogging session a week. Perhaps you could just post every other week until things slow down at work? Good luck figuring this out and we'll patiently/eagerly await your posts!

[EHD]

Socrates famously stated that the unexamined life is not worth living. Thoreau took this a step further when he retreated to the woods to think. (His mother still did his laundry, but the role of women in facilitating famous men's dreams is another subject...) I once apologized to my brother for not writing more frequently. He wittily retorted, "The unexamined life may not be worth living, but the examined life is not lived at all!" As long as you are living things you love, it's better to experience life than to write about it. Write when you can, and embrace the rest of this exciting season of your life.

On another (and crabbier) note, I confess I do NOT understand the current craze for personal and/or family blogs. If I don't have time to write about my own or my children's lives, I certainly have NO time to read about someone else! :-) WHY do people think their lives are proper fodder for public consumption? Is everyone merely desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame? My zone of personal and familial privacy may be expansive and permeable, but it still exists. Something like "Dare to Dream" is interesting to me, because it's about ideas, not merely a voyeuristic peek into someone else's life that I might (or, morely likely, might not) wish I had.

[Maria Carr]

I ask myself what will matter in 5 years, and I usually say yes to life, family, dreams. There is a time and a season for everything, and if you blog less now, perhaps that is "just right" for this season. We will enjoy, be inspired, or pricked to think by your posts, no matter how often they come.

[Macy]

First, I'll be here reading no matter how often you post. If the blogging slows down while you are building your own dream, you'll be an even stronger mentor when you have time to blog more often. I love the idea of jotting down ideas when inspiration strikes or when you run into situations in your work that would be meaningful mentor moments.

[Dana King]

Oh, Whitney, you know I needed to read this post ...since I am behind on my three committed-to blogs!...or was it four...can't remember.

I have worried that I might lose the friends I have made by my blogging, especially my design blog...but it seems they are always there popping back up when I post. So my blog friends are NOT fair weather blog friends, but always there.

Like someone else said, I am more likely to read every blog you post irregularly than the ones you do on a schedule. When it hits me more often I am more likely to back log them to read later and that may never happen. I read this one because I noticed it had been a while.

Funny how you and I moved homes at the same time, pursued similar dreams (KYN), and still do, and about the same time started working 60 or 70 hours a week...I don't know what that means, if anything, but it is interesting how someone noted the organic nature of our paths and the ebbing and flowing...I guess I need to go with the flow.

Thanks to everyone for their comments...I needed this pep talk.

[Peggy]

i'm in no position to advise seeing as how my life has been flipped upside down recently and this is my first time in over a month reading "dare to dream"--

but even as i type this i realize that- it's okay if sometimes different parts of my life need to take center stage for a while... and in its own due course it will shift and change all on its own.

whitney we, your beloved fan base, will never stop reading or anticipating your nuggets of wisdom--

even if rose park has decided it would like to be center stage right now- we will still be here ready for the next great post.

[b]

I think dreams occasionally morph into something entirely different than what we visualized. Could it be that your current project is a result of the introspection and writing you did on your blog? If so then do not be afraid to give up one for the other. If you truly love it, you will be back. We are all behind your decision what ever it may be.

May I add, if the blog takes any precious time from your children or husband then go with an added blessing!

b