In 2011, I traveled alone to Paris and spent a week exploring this amazing city, followed by a week on a transformational African safari with one of my heroes and a group of women who would eventually turn into the sisters of my heart.

Doesn’t that sound so impressive? Doesn’t it all sound like something you want to add to your dream list (or bucket list, if you insist?)

You might imagine me dancing the night away in Paris, meeting an incredible French lover or two, indulging in a ménages à trois, dining gourmet al fresco, tasting amazing wine, and viewing some of the world’s most amazing art.

The truth? I walked through this enchanting city, stopping off at little pocket parks to people watch and read Game of Thrones.

I wandered through shops, ate heavenly croissants whenever possible, and purchased some exquisite clothing. I studied French women to figure out how they can look so effortlessly fashionable, and spoke to maybe ten people total during my stay, mostly in pantomime.

You might imagine me stalking through the bushveld in Kruger National Park, tracking a rhinoceros. (I did and I seriously disliked it.) You might think I have thousands of photos of the incredible trip and all the animals we saw. (I have about 10 pictures.)  You might think I joyfully used the luxurious hot tub bath with monkeys watching from the trees on the deck. (I was sharing a room with a total stranger and the bathroom had no door.)

The reality – I was enraptured by the animals, the silence, the spoon-bending and the life coaching.

Some of my highlights included going really fast in the land rover, flirting with the Shangaan tracker, and dancing at the ending feast.

Figuring out these women would be my lifelong tribe came way later. At the time, I just thought they seemed like interesting, awesome people that I never expected to see again.

My point being…the things I loved in Paris and the African bush were the same things I love here in my home of Los Angeles. Reading, walking, shopping, silence. Dancing, life coaching, flirting, studying fashionable women. The truth is that no matter where I go, I’m still me. The things that bring me wild joy don’t change very much.

I had been to the Louvre in 2003; it was amazing and I felt no compulsion to go again. I’ve been to LACMA two or three times in the twenty years I’ve lived here and feel no real pull to go again, when I could be reading in a park instead. 

So what does this have to do with you and your dream list?

We all have wild dreams, and we often think those dreams are going to make us feel a certain way.

This week, I’m inviting you to go through the list you created in last week’s post and determine how you think you are going to feel when this dream happens.

You can see from the handy graphic that we’re on the second phase of The Authentic Dream List Creation Inverted Pyramid Method. Here you are trying to find patterns in the emotional experiences you desire.

Next week we’re going on to the third and final phase, where we’ll use your intuition and physical knowing to come up with your authentic dream list of both “things” (see the northern lights) and “feelings” (feel awed, euphoric, blissful.)

To help with this week’s step, I’ve created a list of positive emotions for you to print out and reference. You can pick it up here.

In closing, I invite you to pick one of your dreams right now and find the emotion you hope to experience when it comes true. Post a comment below and share both with us.

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