dream big and go for it

Yesterday I got a chance to meet a photographer named Karen Fuchs at the jersey city artists open studio tours.

She lives in a lovely, minimalist, mostly white artist’s loft that is like something out of a dream. I spoke to her briefly about her experience living abroad which was mentioned in her artist biography. I would love to be able to say I lived in 4 different countries across 3 continents, I commented this to my bf and he told Karen what I said. She looked at me and said ‘dream big and go for it. it doesn’t have to be expensive.’ I asked where her favorite place to live was. Out of London, Germany, Bangladesh and New York, she said she would choose London if the weather was more agreeable.

As we were speaking, I had a very strong sense of de ja vu, especially when she was mentioning how many completely different cultures exist throughout Europe in close proximity. And how you can travel for just one hour and enter into a whole new culture and way of life. Her apartment was silent and serene and completely dreamy.. everything white, soft and quiet -the couches, the bed, the walls , the rugs, etc. It was like some heavenly space that I could never imagine myself ever having. And her life was like some dream life I could never imagine living.

Though I know I am limited only by myself and my fear of change. There is really no reason for me not to dream big and go for it, or just drop everything I have done so far in life and start over in some completely new and fresh direction. Lately it’s hard to think about anything else, as I realize that the time to change is now if I am ever going to. Everything I see and experience and the people i meet seem to point this out to me all the time, and I just keep holding out for another day, then week, then month. and it’s all at the expense of what I really and truly want for myself.
this is an excerpt from a new blog i discovered today and am now going through the archives of, called missminimalist.com

'The best way I can describe it is with a line from an old Chinese poem: “To drift like clouds and flow like water.”

‘I want to live my “real life” the same way. Sometimes I think there’s much too emphasis on setting goals and planning futures and reaching milestones. Why not simply enjoy life, instead of creating additional stress? I’m not against having aspirations; but to be honest, I don’t want to schedule my life on my iPod, download productivity apps, or attend virtual workshops on how to be successful at x, y, or z. And I certainly don’t want to create a five-year plan and mark my progress each step along the way.

Instead, I’d like to approach life the same way I approach travel—simply taking each day as it comes. I want to be surprised and delighted by what transpires, rather than ticking off a series of planned events. Mostly, however, I want the freedom to “wander” without the burden of possessions and responsibilities. That’s primarily my motivation for living a minimalist lifestyle; by keeping my “baggage” and “itinerary” as light as possible, I hope “to drift like clouds and flow like water” each day of my life.’