By Andrew Whyte, Whyte Gardens
Have you been playing with some ideas for your garden, but are feeling a little unsure about progressing right now?
Do you have some doubts or reservations about timing, costs or unexpected challenges?
Would you like to gain a greater sense of confidence so you can start taking at least some positive steps in the right direction?
There’s one simple thing you can do to change all that doubt in your mind.
The one power you’ve always had and always will…
No matter what is happening around you, you can always dream.
Yes, dream!
Have you ever stopped to think for just a moment that every single thing of value you currently have in your life right now was once just a dream. The career or business you built. The home you live in. The family you raised. (Or are still raising).
Every single one of them was once just a tentative thought. A hopeful dream. Something you were perhaps unsure, or uncertain, you could ever make come true. But something you knew you really wanted.
Somehow, through all the odds and against whatever adversity you faced, you made those dreams come true.
What first existed as just something in your imagination, slowly but surely began to take shape. Began to become more real to you.
And the more real it became, the more certain you became that you were on the right path. That your life was heading in the direction you wanted it to.
What was once just a fanciful dream, was finally there, right in front of you, existing in your world. Real. Solid. Actual.
Now here’s the thing about a dream. Hard times can’t touch them. Nobody can take a dream away from you, no matter how hard they try – unless of course you let them!
(When Nelson Mandela was locked away in a tiny cell for 27 years, he never gave up on his dream of a free South Africa. Not only did that dream come true but he ended up leading his country!)
Dreams cost you nothing. You can dream all you like about something wonderful happening in your future and nobody presents you with a bill at the end of your dream.
Dreams belong to you. They are the one thing that stays entirely yours, no matter what’s going on around you.
You can be caught up in a rainstorm but still be dreaming of laying on a tropical beach in the sunshine.
You can be completely broke, but still dreaming of a enjoying a sumptuous meal when your next pay–check comes in.
You can be right down the bottom of a huge mountain, and still be dreaming of what the view will be like when you reach the summit.
And you can be dreaming of a wonderful new garden, where your kids will play, where you will entertain your friends and where you will sit on a warm summer’s eve with someone truly close to you, deep in conversation over a glass of wine.
All these dreams are yours. And no one can take them away from you.
Start dreaming in your own back garden
If you look at your garden right now, does it bring you joy?
Is it a place where you feel like welcoming friends over for a social gathering?
Is it somewhere you like to linger on a warm summer night, just you and your partner, and a glass of wine?
Does it echo with the sounds of children’s laughter?
Can you feel a deep connection with nature every time you step outside?
If your garden doesn’t bring you any of these things, maybe it’s time to start dreaming…
Sit back, close your eyes and start imagining what it could look like, feel like, be like.
Can you hear the wind rustle in the trees?
Feel a cool breeze on a warm summers night as you lay on the deck?
Hear the laughter, the clink of glasses, the buzz of conversation as a good group of friends gather round for a BBQ you cooked on the outdoor kitchen?
See your children splashing happily in the pool while you watch them safely from the kitchen window?
If you can’t bring yourself to start dreaming, read on…
Dreaming is an act of defiance
The world is full of people who will tell you what you can’t have.
Who will make you hesitate, doubt, reconsider.
Some people refer to them as the fear marketers or the merchants of chaos.
The media. The people who sell life insurance. Or anyone who’s peddling a scenario designed to make you stop dreaming and stop creating your own future.
These people introvert you. Make you doubt your own judgement. Make you believe that the future is going to be worse than the present.
These are the people who have only one goal. To stop you dreaming. To stop you creating your own life. To make you forget that it is you who has the power to create your own tomorrow.
And why shouldn’t that tomorrow be brighter, and bolder and more beautiful than today.
Isn’t that the whole point of life?
It’s a blank canvas on which you can paint anything your heart desires.
And that includes a garden where birds sing, butterflies flutter and sunbeams dance in between the leaves.
Any time you dream it’s an act of defiance. An act of disagreement with those who say no, now is not the right time. Wait a bit longer. Wait until things are more secure or more certain.
Why can’t you have everything you want in life, including your dream garden.
The dream is the foundation
After 35 years of designing and building gardens, I can tell you this. The dream is not the most indulgent part of a garden project. It’s the foundation.
Every great garden I’ve ever been lucky enough to help create, started the same way. Not with a number. Not with a list of requirements. With a dream.
You don’t have to act on it fully today. We all have our doubts about timing. But your dream will always be yours. Nobody can take it from you or talk you out of it. Unless you let them.
So give your dream space to breathe. Start picturing it in your mind. Searching for it online. Looking for it in a neighbour’s place on an evening walk.
Write your dream down, even a rough paragraph or two.
Or do a whole meditation on it.
You don’t have to pick up the phone and talk to a designer. Or book a consultation with one.
Maybe just read one or two more blogs on this website.
Because when you feel the time is fully right, your dream will be ready. And so will we.
So give yourself the licence and permission to start dreaming right now.
It might just be the most powerful thing you can do.
