Crafting the Perfect-for-Us Experience

“Craft your life,” my client says, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

As I walked this morning, greeting the day with my dog, listening to the birds and the walkers as they talked. I felt at peace, calm, still, quiet. And it drew me back to a time, not so long ago, when I walked this exact same path, visualizing a dog by my side, expressing gratitude for all that I had – and all that I still wanted – in this life.

At the time, this was about 7 years ago, I desperately wanted a dog.

And we were looking, and we were ready, but still, the perfect-for-me, furry bundle of joy, was still out there somewhere.

For a year, I walked around this same block, without a dog, building in time in my life, in my routine, for that one thing that I so genuinely desired. To walk, through this same park, with my very own dog by my side. And sure enough, my perfect-for-me pup eventually came into my life, my big, bold, boisterous black German-Shepherd Lab, now the perfect-for-us ever-present companion.

I’m thinking about this now, because there is a new thing I’m dreaming about.

A celebration! One of love. Something that is uniquely us, a fun-filled, love-filled, family-and-friend-filled retreat, all focused on our Wedding Ceremony.

So, as I step into this role of “Bride-to-Be” and journey toward “I Do,” I’ve been thinking a lot about who I want to be on my wedding day. How do I want to feel? What version of me do I want to look like? Who all is there? Where are we? What about the event is making me smile, non-stop, glowing and radiant, full of joy, love, excitement, and merriment?

I know that this is all attainable, that I can craft (together with my man) our dream Celebration of Love experience.

And yet, I also know that planning weddings is known to be extremely stressful. They’re known to cost way too much money, to tax everyone’s wits and time, and to cause bouts of internal family strife. Even just narrowing it down, “you’re in – you’re out,” has such an unfortunate air about it.

Now that all those things are expressed, I think I’ll leave them behind me, right here, on this page, and let the Universe wash those worries away.

My journey to I Do is my own. And I can craft it to my tune, harmonizing with what feels good to me ~ and to my husband-to-be.

Just like all those years ago, when I walked every morning, imagining my perfect-for-me pup by my side. Now, I have a year to walk and to visualize, to work through all the ruffles in my mind and smooth and soothe and focus my energies on having a good time.

Because this is how we craft our life, isn’t it?

We see something in our mind’s eye, and we go for it. We explore it, through action and reflection, through storytelling and journaling and doing. We slowly articulate it, draw it, write it, try it, and as we do all this, we eventually find we’re living it. We’re knocking on doors, looking behind, closing, and trying again. Just like bringing that perfect-for-me pup into my life, and those past perfect-for-me ponies, and even my perfect-for-me man, and together, our perfect-for-us house.

Now, it’s the time for the perfect-for-us Celebration of Love.

It’s time to put it together consciously and to tap into my skills as an artist to create a beautiful book, one filled with memories, the memories of our 10-year-anniversary, our exchanging of vows, our wedding, our Celebration of Love.

Because that’s how all good things start, isn’t it?

You have a vision, an end result in mind, and then you plant the seed ~ it all starts with a thought, an idea, a sparkling of energy ~ and then, you tend that seed, you feed it, you care for it, you make space for it to grow and to flourish and bloom, brilliant and bold.

And a shared vision, a shared project, a shared creation, well, now that’s even more fun to make. It’s harder too – it’s not just me, it’s for you! It’s the “perfect-for-me,” yes, and it’s also “perfect-for-you” and it’s “perfect-for-us” too.

Our little perfect-for-me family, when Oz was still a puppy.

This wedding celebration, the family reunion too, it’s going to be the biggest and best work of art I’ve ever made, because the art is the crafting of the experience itself. Of seeing what memories I want to have, then making them happen. Making the vision for the book of our experience, that once this whole grand event is over and complete, I’ll compile the memories in a book that I’ll print and savor and use to relive this wonderful journey of getting married.

So, here we go, you and me, my man of my dreams, and alongside our playful proud protective pup keeping us laughing, walking, and dreaming good dreams.

Here’s to making our ideas into cherished memories,