Inspired by the universe

Our gang with Mike Dooley
Left to right: Josephine Pica, Mike Dooley, Suzanne Betcke and
me, and Steven.

Outside Saturday evening is settling in on one of the loveliest
days of the year. I watch sparrows on my neighbour's roof
and through the thick branches of the cherry tree see a
party going on on the next street over. The clouds form
glorious patterns of velvet purple outlined in brilliant
white, and the sky between is a pure bright blue. It's
so warm you can wear a sundress and feel fine, or
shorts and a T-shirt. My area of Toronto is
a party in almost every yard and that seems exactly right.

See I spent the day with two very good friends and my
husband Steven at a hotel on the edge of town
listening to Mike Dooley, who writes the Notes From
The Universe that land in our email inboxes from
Monday to Friday. And Mike Dooley, who signs his
weekday emails "The Universe" did not disappoint
the good-sized crowd.

His message is all about thinking about what you'd
like to happen in your life in general
terms, and then taking actions to move in the direction
of your dreams. I am a major believer in his message
because starting this blog was one of the actions
I took, and as he points out, the opportunities and
wondrous events that happen for anyone who makes
a small step towards a dreamed of life are surprising
and fantastic. Deciding to take action, then doing
something about your dream helps you to experience
incredible changes in your life. What's happened to me
through the one small action of starting and continuing
to write the blog, is way beyond anything I could have
imagined when I wrote my first entry over
two years ago. Mike says that no matter what your dream
is, working towards it will cause significant positive
transformation in your life, but he also suggests working
on many dreams at the same time, so that your whole
happiness is not sewn up in what he calls, "making
leg warmers for kittens," in other words a dream that
makes no sense.

So we sat and listened to his wisdom, had two rest
breaks and a break for lunch and were in that hotel
room together from 10 in the morning until 5:30
at night. All I can say is that it was a superb treat.
Mike Dooley is an inspiring speaker, warm and
engaging -- funny and humble all at the same time.
He joins with the audience by telling his own story
and explaining that anyone can have a similarly
great story.

In the breaks he signed books and posed for photos
with people who wanted pictures. Our group was
lucky enough to get a wonderful woman to snap
the picture above. Yes that's a look of pure joy on
my silly face.

Have a getting-in-touch-with-your-happy-self day.