Introduction

Obviously, I do not know, as of 17th August 2002, whether I will even reach that goal, but I am very sure that I would like to. So, keep an eye out and keep coming back - I hope to update around monthly, though I'm sort of erratic and may well not. You might want to subscribe to Annwn Updates to keep abreast of the latest happenings.

The purpose of this story, I think, is to illustrate the process of weaving one's own wyrd - even if it seems you are starting from scratch, which I truly believe I am.

The Dream

The Background

Don was laid off in October 2001 and, to date, is still not working... the severance pay is gone, so we have to dip into what's left of our savings. This has given us a chance to get to know one another again, but the overwhelming feeling is of "impatience" - "want something better" and "want to get started saving".

Obviously, this is not going to happen overnight, and any dream of this calibre requires years of work and saving and, of course, weaving. It has been during this time of "fallowness" that the dream has really grown wings and started to take a shape where it might actually, one day, be possible. We have a house to live in but decreasing amounts of money. This dream will be a process of starting from the bottom and working up.

Things That Need To Happen

Citizenship - not much point doing anything before I get my citizenship. I can apply for it now, but prefer not to because of the money situation. It will take 2-3 years. My timescale for this dream is to start in 2007 or 2008. 2007 seems apt as it will be my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, my brother and sister in law's 20th, and Don's and my 10th. We could start the adventure with a really big party!

Communication - we need to establish how to be online for much of our journey. I hope that the wireless technology will be even more widespread by then, but I don't know how wired we'll be while in Death Valley. ;-)

Fitness and Health - at the time of the first twitches of this dream, I weighed 215lbs, or 15 stone 5. That's a lot of weight for a 5'3" woman. There was a time when, albeit exhaustedly, I managed the nine mile hike to and from the top of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain. I would like to both slim down and get fitter.

Motorcycling - for various reasons, I've not ridden in a good long while. I need to relearn and become a strong rider.

Spanish - might be useful for me to learn it, I think. Oddly, I took a class in Spanish during my final year at university. It's possible that there was a wyrdling planted even back then, as Spanish was no use to me at the time and I had no idea that I would end up living in California, where Spanish is the second language. (I originally learnt it because of a Spanish man I met on a course in France, but we lost touch.)

Photography - if I'm to show people photographs, I'd better have something worth showing. Not only do I wish to get an Olympus high-end digital camera, I want to learn how to use it properly and to become a good photographer. I've been interested in photography all my life, so this is a very early thread I wish to bring to fruition.

Wyrd Signals

Here are the baby steps I've taken so far:

• Last September (2001), I started gardening, something which has of course led to the "settle somewhere and farm" part of my dream. It's also brought me much joy and helped me to become more centred.

• I bought a book about RVing - the Complete Idiot's Guide to RVing - which had just been published. I also read several RV magazines to get an idea of how it works. I figured that if I were to have a dream, I should start dreaming from an educated standpoint. I entered a sweepstakes with some nifty prizes, too, but am not pinning anything much on that!

• I tried reading route books, but decided that it would be more fun just to get a map and guidebook and figure out where I wanted to go on the day. I have a sense that this is not something that should be done with a set itinerary, but to take a list of places to see and figure it out day to day.

• I started dreaming up ideas for book titles.

• In June (2002), I started a diet. This was a result of working for a chiropractor friend, Deann, who has been quite inspiring to me about my health. I borrowed her copy of the Fat Flush Plan which I'd never heard of before. (It's been a theme to my life that the right reading material happens at the right time.) To date, I have lost 17 pounds in weight. My realistic target is ten stones - 140 lb. I have a powerful motivator now, as my bike is back on the road and I would like to wear my nice leathers again. I did not put on this weight in five minutes and it won't come off in five minutes!

  Starting work for Deann was in itself rather wyrd. Our lives had taken us apart so we didn't actually communicate for well over a year, and then we both pretty much decided to call one another at the same time. I got hired to do her Web site and some computer work, and gained a friend/mentor as well. Once again, the wyrd brings people together at just the right time for them to teach one another something...

• On New Year's Day 2002, a friend told me about a self-publishing company called I-Universe. That was like a gift to me. Initially the idea was that I would publish my novel, Rhaeva, to lay it to rest and allow space for more creativity. But it also planted the seed for writing travel books. My friend also sent me a copy of the 2001 Writer's Market book - further inspiration. (What was that I was saying about the right people? You see what I mean?) I sort of feel that publishing my novel will teach me how to publish my travelogues, or that there is some link somewhere - I was feeling that perhaps I would try to sell some articles around various magazines in the meanwhile. It is a step in the right direction, at least.

• I applied for a job, and spend some months learning about day and short term trading. Even though I did open a trading account, and even though I do feel that this is a very good way to earn enough money to be going on with, I also learnt that this was not the right time for a novice and that more capital would be required. I learnt that this is not a process I can do without at least one, and probably two, of us earning a decent wage. I started thinking about how to promote my Astrology Reports service, which in itself was the following of a dream, more effectively, and of advertising Ravensmeet to attract more people.

• In June 2002, Don finally fulfilled a promise made while I was still in England, that we would go camping together. We both enjoyed it so much, that it may well become a theme of "what we do" together. And it ties in with this, of course...