I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. I just didn’t realize it until I was pretty much grown up. I started college majoring in Med Tech, but took less than a year to realize how wrong that was for me. I switched to an English major, added a Journalism minor, and I’ve been writing ever since.
In March, 2001, my dream of being a newspaper columnist came true when I started writing “No Place Like Home” (which evolved into “Find Your Buried Treasure”) for the Chanhassen (MN) Villager. In June, 2004, I joined Toastmasters because – although I could express myself pretty well in print – I wanted to sound more clear, confident, and convincing when speaking out loud.
Toastmasters opened up in me the desire to become a professional speaker, and that led to a long and often-frustrating quest to find whatever unique and special talents, qualifications, and credentials I had, along with the message I was meant to share with the world. What I eventually discovered was that the gifts we have that are most special and unique are those that don’t feel special to us at all. They’re so much a part of us, and they come so naturally – or they are interwoven into painful experiences or devastating losses we have suffered – that we don’t realize how precious or powerful they are. They’re like buried treasure, lying dormant deep within us and often covered up or disguised as something else. Part of the buried treasure I discovered in myself was the gift of recognizing this treasure in others, and a desire to help them recognize it, value it, use it, and enjoy it!
In July, 2009, I became a Certified Dream Coach®, which gave me the training, tools, and an amazingly accurate and powerful treasure map that helps me guide my clients to treasured dreams-come-true in any area of their lives.
Today, I am living the life of my dreams by helping others – through my writing, speaking, and Dream Coaching – to live the life of their dreams. My hope is that they, in turn, will start to recognize and respect the buried treasure not only in themselves but in the people around them. I also hope that, once each of us finds the gifts and treasures that are now buried deep inside of ourselves, we will also discover the wealth and abundance they can bring us. And I hope we will continue using them throughout the rest of our lives to enrich ourselves – and the world!