When I first began this site, it started off as just trying to make myself into a better person by doing things that I had always wanted to do (like figuring out how to make Coq au Vin), and sharing the journey along the way. Over this last week, the site sort of took a different turn in a new direction. This is ultimately the direction I wanted the site to go in all along.
There is a life motto I have been telling people since I was a teenager. Ironically, the first time I ever said it, it was to my grandfather.
I was 16 at the time and had just gotten back from Paris. I was telling my grandfather about my Parisian adventure. He said to me after I finished sharing my story that he wished he could do that. I remember looking at him a little funny…like it was crazy for him to say that. That’s when I said to him, “Life is short. Do anything and everything you ever dreamed of doing.”
For years, his kids had told him he should go out and travel during his retirement. He never did. But it was those words that day that prompted him to go out and chase every last dream he had for himself. He spent the last 15 years of his life traveling all over the world. Over those years, he would share those stories with me in the letters we wrote back and forth to each other. He was my pen pal from the day I was a kid and could send out a letter on my own, until the day he died.
After he died and I started traveling more, I continued our travel tales. With each place I visited, I felt like he was near, sharing this adventure with me. He used to collect coins from every country he ever visited. This goes all the way back to World War II, when he was in the war. He had brought back coins and stamps from Nazi Germany. Those are coins that I ended up inheriting after he passed away.
Every time I visit a country, I make sure to have a handful of coins to add to our collection. This is a ritual I have kept going since 2007. That’s why traveling all over the world is so important to me. It’s about keeping an important memory going by adding to it long after the other person you shared it with is gone.
Those words I told my grandfather that day is the same motto I have repeated to so many people throughout this lifetime (and to myself, because sometimes you have to remind yourself what your life motto is). Do anything and everything you have ever dreamed of doing.
After the NYCIFF Awards, I was talking with George Pogatsia (director/writer/star of “Family On Board”) about his speech on championing each other. It takes a village to create success. We all have to help each other make our dreams come true. We cannot make a dream come true on our own. It is absolutely foolhardy to think we can make our dream happen on our own. It takes many people along the way to help us get to where we are trying to go. It takes a village to make every single dream come true for each individual.
When you work together to help each other make dreams come true, you’re creating amazing energy together in order to make each and every dream come true for each person involved. Consider it karma working in everyone’s favor.
Creating this kind of energy helps inspire each person involved to be greater than we were before. That kind of energy is a really good, positive feeling.
When you help each other, you go into it believing in the other person and their dream. You help them any which way you can within your own limitations. You do this without wanting anything in return. The way the universe works is that when you help others, wanting nothing in return, someone will return the kindness to you. It may not be the same person you’re helping. It could be someone else, the right person that can help you get to the next step in the process.
The amount of energy you put into helping someone else’s dream come true, you’ll find that the same energy x7 comes back to you. It’s just the law of the universe (aka the law of attraction). Do good for others, and the kindness will be returned somewhere down the line in a variety of different ways from so many different people.
Your vibe attracts your tribe.
That being said, that is the direction this site has gone. This site is about sharing people’s dreams and how they’re making them come true. This content will be brought to you through interviews and collaborations. There will be a lot of repeat offenders here because of the collaborations. A collaboration means that we are working together to share the story of how one person is making their dream come true.
For instance, we will be documenting Family on Board’s journey to the Oscars. This will be done in collaboration with George Pogatsia, the film’s director.
In the upcoming days, I’ll also be sharing with you one artist’s journey to creating a new arts festival in the Bahamas. That artist is no stranger to this site. He created my Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal painting.
Journalist friends I’ve made over the years in hockey will also be contributing to the site in their own ways. Russ Cohen (from Sportsology, author of various books including “100 Ranger Greats”) recently added his first collaborative post to the site. Russ and I have known each other since the start of my hockey writing career. He’s been a great friend and mentor over the years, so having him contribute non-sports related content here…I am definitely a very lucky person.
There are other hockey reporters that will be submitting stories, recipes, DIY projects, etc. in the upcoming months. In a way, this site allows them to have a place to share their other passions that are outside of hockey. [i.e. There is life outside of hockey for hockey writers.]
This site is about building a trustworthy community of individuals that this site supports in their journey through life. It is about believing in that person and their dream. As of now, sharing each person’s journey is a stepping stone. As time progresses, perhaps this little community we’re building can do more for each other.
That’s what this site is doing on its backend as far as bringing forth content. The purpose of creating this content is for one simple reason. It’s to help inspire people out there to go after every single dream they can have for themselves. Life is about pursuing each and every dream. You could fail at a dream or get to the end of its path and decide it wasn’t meant for you. It happens all of the time to every single one of us. Eventually, you’ll find there are some dreams that were worthwhile and others that weren’t. That’s what life is all about.
The worst thing anyone could ever do is dream and never pursue it. You will always ask yourself ‘what if.’ What is the point of asking yourself ‘what if?’ Just go out there and live the dream. You’ll find that life is more amazing when you are pursuing your passions in life.
If a story is shared here, it’s not a one time deal. We’ll continue to follow their journey, sharing their story as a way to get people to be more interested and involved in something that is absolutely incredible. The people you’ll find here are people I believe in. The things they have created or done…they are projects I am passionate about seeing do well. If you love something…you’ve got to say something. That’s what this site will be doing.
xxoo,
Michelle Kenneth