Time to Dream

 Aloha Reader,

Last summer, while living in my car, I normalized my daily life as much as possible to maintain positive mental and physical health. It was the first time I l lived full-time in a car. I'd often keep a sleep schedule that followed daylight hours and obtain between 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Since I was within close proximity to an ocean and a one-mile shoreline/beach, quite often I'd sit and gaze out in the ocean. I also wrote books and stories, enjoyed countless conversations with locals and read dozens of books from the shared local book cubby.

My Bernese Mountain dog, Bruno Mars, lived with me most of the time during this period. He was the absolutely perfect companion and therapy dog and the (mostly) cool beach area we lived in was perfect for him. I chose this particular area, after I realized I'd soon run out of money and was in great need of support & healing. I was at my wit's end with the BS of the Bay Area, and on my way to car camping near Silverstrand Beach, I visited Santa Paula to visit some friends I met on a trip in late December of 2023. (Reconnecting to Donovan and his family in SP last April gave me faith things would work out.)

Something beautiful that came out of this challenging experience were all the dreams and wish lists that emerged. I began to write down a lot of my favorite things (really getting to know myself) and then also came up with a solid list of demands (haha!) in terms of compensation for all I had been through with the SF Bay Area and toxic people. Proudly, I still have many to this day! :) Believe it or not, I have not yet officially filed any lawsuits or restraining orders myself -- that's how silenced I was and traumatizing this entire situation has been!

Since I've had my head down most of my life, working away, I didn't take too much time to craft a 'dream life'. I took advantage of the long days to not only heal, but grow, despite heartache.

I encourage you to dream big and write an unfiltered dream list. For many years, I wrote down and periodically revisited my athletic bucket list; this summer's 'dream 'n demand' list was just another version of dreaming big!

With Aloha,

Heidi