Make Your Dreams Come True Day

I simply couldn’t resist the fact that today is: Make Your Dreams Come True Day! What a great day to celebrate. Of course, having dreams is also about imagination. Imagining can be a form of dreaming ~ when we dream into the future, imagining what something might be like.

If what we imagine is something we desire or want to achieve, it gives us the energy to succeed. Imagination is a tremendous force to feed the soul. It drives us forward towards the thing/situation we have dreamed, towards that better future we have envisioned. Imagination helps us see possibility and creates the future.

I used to dream of being a ballet dancer. Against all the odds, having suffered two major heart illnesses as a child, I found a once-a-week ballet class in a local scout hut near my school. I had been forbidden to swim or do any other form of exercise by the doctors, so I sneaked to the class, making up an excuse for being late home from school. I paid for the classes by doing extra dishes (I grew up in Irish music pubs).

I didn’t have ballet shoes, so I wore a pair of furry, worn slippers and skipped along with the four-year-olds, pretending to pick up daises. I was a rather plump thirteen-year-old by that stage. Miss Hatton and Miss Johnson (the two wonderful teachers at the scout hut) must have seen something in me. They took me to one side and asked if I would like to audition for a class in West Street, Covent Garden, with a famous dance teacher who taught the Bolshoi every summer.

I had to ask my parents’ permission. But nothing would stop me. They were no match for my will.

I had never even done a proper barre work the day the ladies took me to West Street. I loved the studio from the second I set foot inside and entered that other world. It was filled with professional dancers. I was in awe of them. Though I couldn’t do anything, I tried as hard as I could.

And that’s why Madame Anna Northcote took me on. I was a trier. I would work harder than anyone to overcome the fact that I had started dancing much too late and was the wrong shape, but my passion burned. Dedication transformed my physique. I changed from being an awkward little duckling lacking in self-confidence, into a graceful swan. By the age of fifteen, I was dancing professionally and even took a lead dancer role.

I certainly made my dreams come true, but it took an unbelievable amount of hard work, dedication, determination, courage, and facing down all the odds. Everything I learned in that dance studio has seen me through a whole lifetime ~ the good times and the bad, the thick and thin, and fed my soul with a wealth of experience that I now write into my children’s stories. I am passionate about encouraging imagination in children and enabling them to dream into the future, imagine the impossible, and dare to achieve it.

You will find a little story about conquering childhood fear HERE on Dr Niamh Children’s Books  Overcoming fear is very important in realising our dreams.) It’s called The ‘Airy Who Found Her ‘F’. And it’s perfect story for bedtime.

About Dr Niamh

When I was a little girl (a very, very long time ago), I used to love learning new, really big words like ‘discombobulate’. As I grew, my love of words grew too, until I loved them so much, I could not stop writing them down. One day, as I was scribbling a particular word, a very peculiar thing happened. The word shouted at me, “Stop! Don’t put me there!” As you can imagine, I was shocked and nearly fell off my chair. When I recovered somewhat, I said to the word, “Could you stop shouting, please? I am not used to it.” Can you guess what happened next? No! I thought not. The word said, “I might be small, but I will misbehave if you do not use me properly. I will not tell the story you would like me to tell. I will say something entirely different!” I dropped my pen. I hoped that by dropping my pen, the word would stop talking. Alas! It did not. It carried on chitterchobbling, even after the ink had dried. I was in a pickle. I could not allow my words to run away with my story, now could I? I don’t know about you, but when this sort of thing happens, there is only one thing left to do if you prefer not to spend your time arguing. “Very well,” said I. “I will do as you ask if you will just be quiet and allow me to concentrate.” Since that day, I have been paying special attention to every word I invite into my stories. After all, a story should say exactly what it means to say and not be led astray. With love from Dr. Niamh, Ph.D in Learning Through The Imagination and Founder of Dr Niamh Children's Books. www.drniamhchildrensbooks.com

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