Barbara Sher’s Idea Party

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How Does the Online Idea Party Work?

You have a dream or a wish, and an obstacle to getting there. (If you don’t think you know your wish, work through my kick-starter and read this post. To learn why you must put logic aside to find your dream, read the following.)

The online Idea Party is here to help you – and the other fellow party goers – with your wishes and obstacles.

Voices from Success Teams and Idea Parties:

Having a team to report to and hearing what everybody did each week is very exciting. It’s kept me moving all year. In the past I made some good starts on my own, but found, every time, when the energy ran out, I ran out. Now it doesn’t run out.
Jade G.
Children’s Playroom Therapist, New York Hospital

I would do a painting a year, a sketch a year. If it was only me I know I would never do it. Having to tell you makes all the difference. It’s crazy why I didn’t do this years ago, it’s so easy all of a sudden.
Caroline R. Personnel Executive, Macy’s Dept Store

Post Your Wish and Your Obstacle Here!

And help your team mates out when you can. Use the Reply link to help, the form below the comments to add your own Wish and Obstacle.

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4,428 thoughts on “Barbara Sher’s Idea Party

  1. I’m a drummer and live in Nashville, and my dream is to play drums live whenever and wherever I can. I have a drum set and know how to play.

    My obstacles are:
    short on funds
    no practice space in my apartment complex
    no industry connections
    I work 12 hours a day and only get Sundays off

  2. I live in Nashville and I have always had an intense love and passion for music. I play the drums and I really want to go out and play shows whenever and wherever I can. My obstacles include a lack of funds. No practice space. No inside connections to the industry, and a lack of free time since I work 12 hours a day in a warehouse and usually only have sundays off.

  3. Hello,
    My wish is to stay in France for a weekend or a few days to live te savoir vivre, just feel feminin and live the French life. Enjoy new food, stay in just a nice very authentic French kind of hotel, with little streets, stores bakeries etc around the corner. I just want to feel feminine for a few days, get up in the morning, dress up, walk to the boulangerie to choose my little breakfast, have a nice coffee later that day at a little typically French coffeeshop, meet some nice French people along the way. Go shopping at little stores with special beautiful affordable items.. try some new coockies or pattisserie, enjoy my walks, and go to sleep and the next day sgain experience all kinds of new things smells and tastes.. I would love to do that this month or in November.. I really want to go by myself to really open up my senses and eyes..
    I live not far from France so in a way it should be possible to realize my longing for this

    Obstacles:
    -Very very low budget
    -Most travelagencies are offering citytrips to the main tourist places, I dont want that, I want to experience the real French day to dsy life, not walk hours from tour Eiffel to whatever in streets with large hotels and “tourist hunters”
    -Im scared to go alone with little pocket money to an unknown place
    – I dont even know where/what area of Paris to find such little hotels stores pattisiers, nice people that give that French feminin feeling
    – Im scared to get lost
    – Im scared to run out of money because of tourist prices
    – I feel guilty for wanting it while I also need to be careful with spendings
    Im afraid that this kind of French lifstyle I long for is nothing but a fantasy
    – my French is not very very good anymore..
    -I really dont know where to start arranging this.

    • Bonjour Sara!
      I would recommend Sarlat le Caneda, which is a small medieval town in the Dordogne region. Amazing food, beautiful old buildings.

      Perhaps an airbnb or homestay there?
      It’s so great that you speak a little French as this will be very much appreciated by the locals.

      Good luck!

      • Thank you Louise! I looked up this village, and I love it! The distance will be to far so I will try and plan to travel there next summer. For a longer holiday

        • Oh I’m glad you like it, Sara! Just a reminder that even though it’s a small place, it’s going to be touristy in the summer months.

          It will be cheaper of course if you go before summer season but it will still be nice, albeit a bit more crowded in high season.

    • Dear Sara,
      What a wonderful wish.
      I am completely with you.
      I always wonder, how french women get that feminin style.
      You might start with a definition of the budget, that you would spend with joy for this Trip.

      Don’t worry about your french Level. It might sure be good enough to order a Café

      If you are afraid to get lost in Paris, choose a smaller town to hang around.

      I also live not so far away from France. And when i need french feeling, even a day trip with my car to Alsace makes me so happy. For Shopping, i like Strasbourg.
      And at the end of the day go to the Supermarket and get fancy french food to enjoy that flavour at home.

      I even took once the night train to Paris, had breakfast there and an amazing day and took the night train back, so i did not need a Hotel.

      Go for it.

      Love
      Astrid

      • Thank you Astrid, what a wunderful idea Strassbourg sounds very appealing to me, it is about 7 hours drive and much more relaxed route to at than it is to Paris..

        I am gathering enough courage to just one day go and enjoy a day there without a sleepover.

    • Hello Sara,

      I live in France, and am French.

      You could do a sort of house swap, or maybe do some house/ petsitting . I’ve heard that nomador is a good site for that

    • Hi Sara,

      This is another possibility to consider. My 56-year-old female friend was just telling me about an “international pet sitting” Facebook group or website or app. (She unfortunately couldn’t remember the name; just that it was an opportunity she heard about and is considering doing herself in a few years.)

      Basically people are away traveling for work or vacation, and need someone to feed their pets, water their plants, pick up mail… basic stuff like that. Standard house sitting. It’s “free” (unpaid), but in exchange you get to stay at a house in another country for a couple days or week or longer. Feeding pets is a once or twice a day thing usually. So after you take care of that, you could go out and explore the local town to your heart’s content!

      Your only cost would be traveling to the country and house. It sounds like France isn’t too far from you, so that’s a great start! Worst case, you can use gofundme.com or something, and ask all your friends and family to chip in a few bucks, to help you with travel costs. Maybe promise to bring them back some souvenirs or something, as a way to say thanks for their generosity. (Who knows — maybe a friend will want to join you and then you don’t have to travel alone!)

      As for getting lost, as long as you have a smart phone with data service in France, you can use Google Maps or whatever with GPS. Or just stop in any local store and kindly ask, “Hey, I’m new to the area… how do I get to ____?” I find most people are friendly and helpful if you just give them the chance.

      You can also use Google Maps (or just search the web in general) for “pattisiers near me” or whatever else you’re looking for while you’re there.

      David

      • Thank you so much for your help, I do have resistance towards some options, but thank you for reminding me of the use of a cellphone to direct me the right way.. I totally forgot, I just remembered completely lost direction in Paris years ago, but that was before Google Maps, how stupid of me not to think of that 🙂 thank you again!

    • Hi Sara,
      try using Couchsurfing! You might not stay at once home for a month but you can change host. It’s free but you need to ask people in advance if they can host you. And they are local people so they will know about the city and will show what you want to see.

    • Well my biggest obstacle is that Im scared to get lost or have my car break down or not having enough money.

      House swap or couch surfing I really do not feel comfortable with staying at a strangers private house.

      • Hey Sara, I understand. About the car breaking down: I’m sure France has some sort of car membership program where you pay a certain amount and then if you have car trouble, they send out a mechanic with a tow truck, free for members?This would apply if you visit frequently I suppose.

        I like the fact that you prepare for these things. Just wanted to validate your concerns because travelling alone can be scary at first but once you’ve done all your safety checks, you will have so much fun I’m sure!

  4. My dream: I want to got a job in a family office in Singapore
    Obstacles:
    1) I don’t have experience dealing with financial products other than equity (in ECM now)
    2) I don’t know how to build a model from stretch
    3) I don’t have a contact at Family Office

  5. I am 45 years old stay at home mom. My kids are now in Middle School and I realize I don’t know who I am or what I want with my life outside of my family. All my life’s decisions revolve around my husband’s career and my kiddos.
    I have been searching through endless motivational montras, videos, speeches, podcasts, you name it i have tried it. I needed help to find my purpose in life , my motivation, my “what do I wanna be when I grow up”.
    I came across Barbara’s “Isolation is a dream killer” video and I gotta tell ya it was like a big bright light for me.
    I have been looking for my new career or purpose in a very logical way and not in what is my dream or wish.
    So here I am going to give the idea party a shot.
    My Wish: I wish I could travel!! It has always been a dream of mine to travel and meet new people see other cultures. Whether it’s traveling to other countries or even just to around the USA. I want to meet people and see how they live, play, work and eat!! Listen to thier stories, seeing thier history, experiencing new landscapes, climates, experience whole new ecosystems and just being able to experience life in different ways. Its just something I’ve wanted to do my whole life. I would love to make a living traveling and teach my kiddos through travel.
    My Obstacles: I don’t have much of a background in anything other than retai and esthetics so my resume is not very impressive. I don’t even know what I would apply for. I have to be here for kids before and after school. My husband is in the Military so so his schedule is not flexible. We don’t have family or friends that could help out with carpools or house management (as I like to call it) and we live in a small rural area so there is not a big community to tap into for help. I considered going back to school but schedules are very tough and again what would I take classes in?

    So there it is. That’s my wish. Any ideas?

    And on a side note, I also wish I could have meet Barbara in person and attend one of her classes. She is so inspiring and her way of looking at things is so eye opening and refreshing. I will definitely continue to read her books and learn as much as I can from her.

    • Hi Vynnie,

      What do you think about starting with watching nature, history, and cultural documentaries about parts of the world you want to someday possibly visit and explore? History, Discovery, and Travel Channel all have lots of shows around that. Other networks too, I’m sure. Plus there’s independent documentaries on Netflix, Hulu, Nat Geo on Disney+, etc. It’s a great way to begin your travels and explorations. It’ll give you a taste, expand your horizon of options, and help you narrow down some places to eventually visit in person. But in the meantime, it might be enough of a vicarious experience to help scratch that itch, too. To get you started.

      I’m also a big advocate of taking a cross country road trip. I’ve driven from coast to coast (or close to it) multiple times. America is a beautiful and diverse country. I highly recommend *everyone* do a cross country road trip sometime in their lifetime. Maybe you can wait until summer when the kids are off from school, and make a family trip out of it. If you guys can’t take off multiple days from work/home, then maybe a single “day” trip — or one overnight at a motel somewhere — to someplace new and interesting within a few hundred miles of you. You’d be surprised what’s around you. You could start with googling for touristy things to do in your state. There might be state or national parks worth visiting. Some tourist attraction. An old ghost town. Who knows! It could be a fun little family outing that gives you a bit of travel, without spending too much money or time away from home.

      As for career stuff, check out sites like Udemy, Teachable, Skillshare, Masterclass.com, etc… see what subjects or topics jump out at you or seem curious or interesting to you. You can start with a low commitment. Just a single cheap class. See if it awakens and inspires something in you. If not, try the next thing that looks potentially interesting. You’re on an inner adventure now too. You’re exploring your own mind, heart, and soul. So do that — EXPLORE. Dip your toes. Taste. Try out a variety of little things. Don’t worry about figuring out what the “Big” Answer is yet. That’ll REVEAL ITSELF in time. Your job is simply to explore and expose yourself to new ideas and possibilities… and see what takes root and grows your interest and excitement even more, naturally over time.

      All that can be done online, from home, whenever you have a spare time between family and household stuff. And if you decide to go back to a formal university type program, many of them offer partially or wholly online programs now too.

      But you can figure the details of all that out later. For now, why not browse your local library for travel books? Why not watch some travel shows? Why not check out some independent online classes here and there — many will give you a great education for under $50 per class. (If you wait for sales, I often buy courses for only $10 to $15 each!) Some courses can be finished in a couple hours, some will take weeks or more to complete. Your local library may have some free educational classes too, or know where to recommend you to.

      Again, I wouldn’t worry about figuring out what “it” is — the thing you “should” be doing… instead, travel and explore your own soul. See what lights you up and what bores you. See what naturally piques your curiosity and lures you in to learning and understanding more. Your path will find you. The only way you can miss it is if you sit at home stuck in “analysis paralysis” and never try anything. So try anything and everything — at worst, you’ll quickly learn “nope, that’s not for me.” At best, it’ll lead you to a passionate, rewarding, emotionally fulfilling career and life path, doing what you love, making a positive difference in the world.

      All you gotta do is expose yourself to new ideas, any way you can. Clearly you’re already watching TED Talks. That’s a GREAT start. Keep doing that too. And try watching some TED Talks on topics you wouldn’t normally watch. I bet, sooner or later, you’ll discover an exciting new part of yourself you never knew existed, but was there waiting to be tapped into all along!

      • Hi David,
        Thank you for such great ideas.
        You are absolutely right. I have been stuck in “analysis paralysis” and not really taking any kind of action.
        I never really thought about taking smaller classes to explore what interests me. I am definitely going to look into that.

        We do travel to visit family in other states but don’t usually stop. We may have to start making time to explore where we pass through.
        We live in CO so there are a few ghost towns here. Many have to start there it being October.

        Lots of great ideas thank you!!

        • Awesome!

          And you’re in good company. Only reason I know all about “analysis paralysis” is because I’ve done it plenty of times myself! 😉

          Sounds like you’ve got some great ideas to get yourself started! Stay the path. You’ll find what you’re looking for. Speaking from personal experience, your answer may come from an unexpected time, place, or person. So just keep yourself always open. Never “force” the answer… just keep your eyes, ears, and heart open… live your life, learn, explore, do and experience what you can… and one day, the answer will find you. And then comes the next big question: “Okay, now how do I find the courage to actually do that?” lol. 😉

          Because speaking from experience, the truly meaningful and fulfilling things ALSO frighten us a little. Because they always require our growth. Because they require stepping into the unknown. Which is always, naturally a little scary. But I’ve used this rule as a wonderful guide in life, and it’s always done right by me:

          “When my desires and my fears are both pointing at the same thing, I know that’s something I should do.”

          Because it’ll be exciting and inspired … but also require growth and having you show up in life like you’ve never been before. It’ll be something you really want that simultaneously makes you question if you’re good enough, have what it takes, or “why me, who am I to do that?” Whatever that is, DO THAT!

          But only if it’s something that both your heart genuinely wants, and that same thing simultaneously scares you a little.

          If it didn’t scare you, either it meant you were staying well within your comfort zone, or the dream itself wasn’t actually that meaningful to you.

          If you don’t desire it, then it’s just not part of your path or calling. So no point in doing things that “only” scare you. You need both signals: desire and discomfort.

          “Simple” as that. 😉 So as someone who’s been on this road before, I’m excited for you and encourage you to keep looking. I’m just giving you a head’s up — if you find something you think you really want, but you feel nervous or scared or not good enough, THAT’S TOTALLY NORMAL and a VERY good sign! Go do that thing. Grow into and become that person. Your life — and your world — will become richer, fuller, and more beautiful because of it.

    • Hi Vynnie, I am also a mum of 2 and completely hear you on needing to find more outside of this role and the day to day of parenting and putting yourself last for a long time, reassessing who you are now that your children don’t need quite the same level of attention as they did as babies is so important and how great that the time has come! I wonder if that craving isn’t for travel itself but the feeling of freedom, exploring, discovery and self direction it gives you? For instance I have no family near and my partner also works a lot, so it’s really tricky to be independent. But I figured rather than wishing for my 2 weeks on a desert island reading books and being bought cocktails haha, I could find the feeling of adventure in smaller ways. My partner took a day off work and I was able to get to London, stay with an old friend, just wander around, going to galleries, read a book on the train and ate some lovely food and actually held several adult conversations without interruption. It’s enough for now to sustain me until the next plan! I don’t have much money either but a travel to a new city and stay with a friend was doable. Your husband can’t take a random day off and you don’t have family but I bet if you reached out to other mums/parents in your community you could drop your children at a breakfast club or another persons house before school one day, get on a train and have them sleepover, even picked up the next day with another parent you trust for dinner and have a nice amount of time to yourself and just spend the day in a new place, people watching, taking in the place, going somewhere unplanned, they could get dropped back to you the next evening. Not sure if that is helpful at all and it would take some coordinating but that’s just been my approach until my children are old enough to leave with others for slightly longer to do trips abroad! I just found Barbara’s videos this week and I am in awe of her way of thinking! Good luck, Beckie

    • Hi Vynnie, I have some ideas. You could consider Workaway site where people are willing to come work as a nanny for free if they can live for free for a short time. They too are looking for ways to travel and meet new people. The site verifies the workwayers and they come with reviews. You might find someone wonderful you’d trust having in your home, male or female to take care of the kids. You can also look into a place to go stay yourself for free as a workawayer and learn a new skill!

      I’ve done workaway myself and I’m still great friends with that family to this day! Mine was farm related and I wanted to learn how to care for goats, but host families are looking for help in all kinds of areas and are willing to teach you. You may find something that catches your attention!

      Secondly, sometimes just changing your environment provides the inspiration. There’s a wonderful group on FB called Host a Sister where you can stay with women all around the world for free. They do this to provide a safe place for women to stay as a sisterhood. You could even host someone in your own home that may want to help with your kids. They also show you around a new area and teach you about the culture. I just know you can do this! Don’t worry about the “what” right now. Just remove yourself from your environment to open your eyes to other areas. The rest will fill itself in!! Best to you!

  6. Hi Team,

    I am new to the community and kind of nervous of how this is going to work out. Since the instructions say that I should communicate my wish along with the obstacle, I guess I will do just that. I am so sure that I am probably not the only one with this wish, and I feel silly even communicating it, but here we go:

    My wish: To find love. I would love to marry and have companionship/ family in my life.
    Obstacle: I am almost 40 and live in an island where most people are over the age of 55. I feel as if I already know everyone in my age group.

    • Welcome! You did that just right, Marie. Sometimes, we “know” people, but we really haven’t seen who they really are, so one thing to try is to throw an Idea Party. Find a location where you can all bring food to share and put up a poster inviting interesting people with lots of ideas. Have them take turns sharing a wish and an obstacle. Ask someone else to take notes for them, so they can pay attention to those offering ideas. If they don’t like an idea, ask them to share some part of it that they do like and ask “but what do we do about ____?” For example, you might reply to me, “I love the idea of getting the know the people here who are around my age better, but what do we do about the fact that I’m terrified of hosting a party?” Now, everyone has a new obstacle to work with, and they just might have a way to make the crazy idea work.

      By the way, I completely salute your wish! I was widowed at 34 and found my second husband at 45. We’ve been together for 25 years now. I’m not sure it would work everywhere, but I was at a conference where they had a country western DJ in the ballroom but too few men, so I walked across the hall to a hospitality suite in my cowboy boots, threw open the double door, and called out, “Does anyone in here know how to do a two-step?” My now husband replied, “No, but I have always wanted to learn.” I don’t think he expected that I was going to give him a 3-minute lesson and drag him over to the dance floor! (And he still can’t do a decent two-step!)

    • Hi Marie,
      Thank you for having the courage to state your wish, I can certainly relate to it.
      Is your island a ferry trip near some mainland? I’m asking because if there are meetup groups near a larger city/town, maybe once in a while you could go there for a night out depending on your interests.
      Good luck and welcome!

      • Hi Louise!

        Thank you so much for your response! I do not live near a bigger city. I would need to take a plane to reach Miami, which is the closest large city. I have tried everything!!! I go out at night, I try to meet people through friends, at work, etc. Nothing has really happened. Many people have suggested that I move, but that is a difficult decision, as my family and friends are here.

        What to do? I have no more ideas.

        MC

        • Don’t give up yet, Marie. If you’re living in a small town, then what about a pet-sitting/homestay gig in Miami for 2 weeks or so?
          (Just as a way to save money while visiting the city. I think “Homestay” is international, and it’s actually not just for students. It’s become an unofficial airbnb only much cheaper.)

          It sounds like your two choices are stay or visit Miami often. You don’t know the future. Maybe someone will want to live on a quiet Island, who knows? Or maybe you find frequent flyer airline deals, and travel back and forth.

          It’s a big city, so there’s lots to do: sports events, drop-in sports, places where people play board games, drop-in meditation classes, public speaker events!

          Do research ahead of time to plan events everyday before you get there. The purpose of the trips to Miami are also to discover new things for yourself. What are some of your burning interests? I mention this because it would be great to meet someone you share interests in common with.

          Try anything. Make the first move. An amazing number of couples met when the woman made the first move. Research supports the idea that the woman who looks approachable, smiles, makes brief eye contact, gets more attention than the one who just sits there. This makes sense: think about how hard it is for a guy to just walk up to you and start talking. I watched a friend of mine catch a guy’s eye from a few yards away. She smiled and raised her glass. A few minutes later, he came by to talk to her.

          I’m just trying to get you to create chance encounters.
          Geez, break something, and find a man to fix it :-).

          You can find things you enjoy doing and meet men at the same time. You know for some reason we gals are not “supposed” to look for love-which is why you feel the way you do-but don’t! It’s normal to want a man in our lives. Why should we pretend so much?
          So rock on, hot stuff, because someone out there is wondering where you are. :-).

  7. OK, my awesome friends!

    Most of you know that I have been studying canine hydrotherapy for years….and even built the pool. Well, this week, I finally got insurance for my service! I have a few other things to do before my first client, but here is my last REAL obstacle….
    OBSTACLE: Long story, but the pool is about a foot and a half too deep for me to work with some dogs, as I now want the water line around my waist. It is great for larger dogs (like Great Danes), so we don’t want something permanent (like making it less deep), but I wanna build something that I can throw in and walk on beside the dogs while they have the depth of swimming (if they are a large dog). I was thinking like PVC frame (with holes, so it fills with water and sinks) with diving board material, but the diving board material on top would put me back a couple of thousand for the size I need. Looked at a million videos of dog resting stations, etc. and most don’t look like what I could make for me to walk on. I am thinking a diagonal piece from the ramp to the far corner, shorter piece across to adjacent corner, and short piece back to the ramp. Any ideas???? TIA!!!!!

  8. My dream is to sell my mobile home, buy a small RV to use as a traveling art studio called Joy Bound, and travel to prearranged differrent locations to facilitate ART AROUND workshops. As a visionary and artist I want to share art-centered activities I’ve designed for connecting to self and other through the immediate and intimate art of collage making.

    My obstacle is I have stayed in one place too long as a fish of out of water and lost heart.
    Feel like I need a small army to make this dream happen.

    • JoyBound,

      This sounds awesome. The best way to get started is to move forward and share your passion with the world. The world is waiting for you to show up.

      Until you purchase the RV may I suggest offering virtual classes which will attract people all over the world and you can charge for your services.

      In addition there are a lot of community centers and schools where you can offer classes.

      In fact I can use your services right now.

      • HELLO Necie,

        Thank you for your enthusiasm. I spent months spinning my wheels seeking venues for workshops. Finally a few weeks ago I did do a workshop. I am an eccentric and have experienced marginalization for far too many years. As for offering virtual classes I believe I want a mentor or business partner who is socially adept in general and particularly skilled n social media. I don’t even do facebook. I do not have a functional website……
        I’m afraid putting the RV Joy Bound out there late last night was premature. I’m currently working on an art project with a September 27th deadline and must stay focused, which is one of my bigger challenges. Love to continue this conversation in October.
        I’m curious what you do and what you mean when you write, “In fact I can use your services right now.” Appreciatively Joy
        Please email me directly to communicate if you would. joypallas777@gmail.com if you even get this

        • I can help you with the website and social media.

          I run a not for profit geared towards women with fibromyalgia and art is therapeutic and good for healing.

          We also have a talk show and radio show.

          I will send you an email.

          Kind regards,

          Necie

          • Hello Dear Necie,

            Look forward to your email.
            What is the name of your non profit?

            Appreciatively,

            Joy

          • Hello Necie,
            Have not received an email from you. So I just went to your website thinking I’d find an Email contact, but did not. I want to send you a PDF to share one of the collage making methods I’ve designed. I wrote a bit about my collage making history accompnied by photos to show how to make Crazy Quilt Colleges. Joy

    • I LOVE this idea, Frances! I am just now almost ready to put my dream into action, after starting in, I think, 2015. Barbara always said, “Start small, but start NOW” She had a similar story in one of her books where a woman travelled around giving photography classes ….Have you read about that? TONS of ideas!

  9. Oh, you guys are gonna just love this one:
    Wish: to prevent yet another condo tower from being built or at least (and perhaps more realistically) put a limit of 5 or 6 storeys on it.

    Obstacle: How to convince all levels of government as well as developers that low-rise, mixed use buildings are worth the extra expense? Can they be built more cheaply using 3D technology? What about all those underused, publicly-funded golf courses? (Thank you, George Carlin!)

    Background: As Jane Jacobs said, towers are unlivable, and in addition to her amazing insights, I have my own list of reasons why. In many cities, these condos are often-and sometimes even mostly- owned by investors who don’t live there, so the homelessness problems are getting much worse, not to mention the fact that these investors are driving up land prices even higher.

    I know this is either happening or has already happened in other cities througout the world. I wonder if there is another Jane Jacobs out there who has succeeded in stopping it?
    Thank you!

    • Update: Have already spoken to some people about it, and have discovered that a tower was prevented from being built near a church! Need to talk to them. 🙂

  10. My wish is to complete my written PhD on dream healing mythology, by the end of 2023 and to have a secure financial foundation that will allow me to do this and keep weaving art and textiles, spinning fibres, playing the oboe and writing short stories, and having enough to look after myself. These are my gifts to the world.

    My obstacle:
    I have no idea who to ask for such help to secure a foundation for the coming year; I feel isolated and don’t know how to move my dream of attaining my PhD out isolation. Anybody have an idea?

    • Hi there,

      Is there some reason you want to write a PhD specifically? Dream healing mythology sounds fairly interesting. If you wrote a weekly blog about it and related subjects, you could still immerse yourself in your interest with complete satisfaction. You could start earning an income from it too. You could alternatively teach about these things through live classes or recorded videos.
      It might take some time to earn your full income from this, but it would be a start.

      Weaving art and textiles, spinning fibres, playing the oboe and writing short stories are all teachable skills. You speak of them with such love; I think you’ve practised and are fairly competent at them. You could probably teach any (or all) of these part-time, online or in your locality. Blogging about them is not a bad idea either. It will help you find people who love the same things.

      If you know a language, you can teach that too. Hundreds of students could use such a service.

      And, if you take a course in small-scale investing, you could learn how to invest small amounts in the share market to earn a bit of profit every week. Don’t do anything risky, though.

      These are some ideas for earning securely while having enough time for your interests. I’m sure there are more out there. Whatever you decide to do, it would be a good idea to start small and switch over slowly (if it’s different from what you’re currently doing).

      Hope this helps, and that things work out for you :).

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