“Dream on”

Dream on. Dream until your dream comes true.” This hit by Aerosmith allows one to believe that dreams could come true as long as one doesn’t lose the passion and/or sight of the dream.

I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. Despite health issues that push me to the brink, there is a larger part of me that needs to give back. I’ve done a variety of volunteer work over the years and, honestly, haven’t found it to be rewarding. To me, it means I haven’t found my niche. But we’re talking about me, a person who rarely identifies with a niche.

Often I’ve written stories involving the cabin in my head. The cabin in my head is remotely intertwined with a fictional setting I’ve created for a murder-mystery in progress and is now more part of an unfulfilled dream. I’m great at creating dream scenarios, but far less adept at making them reality, mostly because I lack a sizable chunk of money to be used for charitable purposes.

My dream involves finding a property that has a couple of small houses, some acreage, a large barn-like structure, and a good-sized multi-purpose building. It might have housed a children’s camp at one time, something like that. Ideally we’d either find a group of skilled workers like the “Maine Cabin Masters” crew or put together our own. We’d repurpose and recycle what we could to refurbish the property.

The main purpose of such a place would be to empower the area’s kids (hopefully a rural-ish area) by introducing them to many kinds of skills that they could use for their own enjoyment or as a means to provide income. My ideas need to be refined. Old-fashioned skills would be taught like gardening and canning. Newer skills, like photography or jewelry making, would also be offered. There could also be programs involving writing, simple construction, forensic science, etc. OR sheep could be raised, shorn for wool, and various products could be made from the wool. Pipe dreams? Maybe, maybe not.

There are so many paths it could take. But I feel I know a variety of people who might be able to help me realize a dream like that. I’d really need an astute individual to find us some grant money, or I should start playing the lottery.

What skills do you have that you could offer? And I’m not talking money.