“What doesn't exist, you have to create yourself.”— I told myself.

In May, I ended up working as a filmmaker for environmentally and socially regenerative projects together with my best friends.

This is the story of how I created and lived my dream life— for two weeks— and what I´ve learned from the experience, and where it´s leading me. I first share the guided exercise I used to make all this happen, so that you can embark on your own greatest adventure.

This story was made possible through vision building, spontaneous decision making, intuition, action and playfulness.

A writing exercise. It all begins with a blank page and the freedom to dream freely.

Every great adventure begins with a blank page and the freedom to dream big. Thank you rational mind, for trying to keep us safe, but we don´t need you at this stage.

This stage is all about dreaming. Big. Limitlessly. Like you do in your sleep, where everything —from flying carpets to singing deer— is possible and makes perfect sense.

You´re going to get incredibly specific about your dream life.

Like Mister Einstain said,

Two weeks in the dream life: A guided writing experience.

This writing exercise is your space to imagine, design, and emotionally experience two weeks of living your dream life. The goal isn’t to know how you´ll get there — it’s about clarity on what you want. The more you let yourself feel it, the more your brain starts seeing it as real and achievable.

This is your moment to imagine two weeks living as your most fulfilled, creative, purposeful self. Let it be vivid. Let it be emotional. Let it feel real. Fill in the prompts below — trust whatever comes up. Your clarity is your compass.

No distractions. Get incredibly specific.

You´ve completed it?

Fantastic.

You've written about it, in detail— take a breath.

Look back at what you wrote. Notice how it feels.

Now,

Let´s get real. It is time for you to plan and execute your first step towards that marvelous life.

One step. You only need the first one, for now.

This thinking helped me tremendously with unblocking and getting to action.

A case study: My experience.

Filling in the prompt.

I filled in the prompt.

My results?

For two weeks I wanted to live the life of a filmmaker, reporting on regenerative projects. In real life. Why? Because I want to hear and learn from these stories so they can be propagated!

And I wanted to do it together with my good friend— we share a tremendous enthusiasm for projects that are contributing towards a beautiful world, and working together is a true joyful gift.

Did I have previous professional experience?

No.

Did that stop me?

Nah - ah. Not this time.

I reached out to my good friend.

We called. She was in for the adventure— we just needed the first story to follow. We needed to let go of imaginary fears and blocks and act upon our dreams.

Taking action. For real.

For the first step, make it easy on yourself.

We connected with our already existing network. A friend of ours was organizing a Restoration Academy. Together with her team, she had organized a three day experience where youth from all around Europe could gather in The Netherlands and learn about peatlands and the incredible people who are working to preserve these ecosystems.

We had a lead.

We contacted her and offered to be the media people for the camp— collecting interviews and footage during the camp. And guess what? She was delighted to receive our help. So we had a first project.

Sure, the camp was just 3 days. But I had to convince myself I´d become a filmmaker for two week, and so I would act as such— I´d find the way.

Now was time for action.

Usually, not having a next step would have paralized me— “then what”? — but not this time. Nope. I couldn´t afford it. I got my bus ticket to Amsterdam— where I would gather with my friend and work on this project. Nothing would stop me.

At first I felt somehow a little irrational or irresponsible. Where was that feeling coming from? Probably from the internalized belief that I should live a predictable, conventional life and carefully plan every step, only acting when my actions align with a long term and serious plan.

So I had to re-center. Focus on what I really wanted— and not on someone else´s idea of what a sensible decision and a desirable life path was. Our plan felt exhilarating and above all… it felt right.

The result?

M a g i c.

And just like that, it happened. For three days we gathered plenty of interviews and footage about the camp. We were recognised by everyone in the restoration camp as the “media people”.

We got to cover character driven stories while learning about peatlands, paludiculture, and climate resilience. We immersed ourselves in stories of hope and regeneration and got to question and reimagine our role in the natural world.

We sure worked quite a lot, staying alert for any snippets of interesting information that would complete the story. In exchange we gained a whole lot of experience, got our food and accomodations costs covered, and even got financial compensation!

It was fantastic. And it marked just the beginning.

This first experience unlocked a chain reaction. Participants of the camp got excited about our quest of documenting regenerative projects and told us of the places we should go next and the people we should meet.

We stayed open to the information and the leads that came our way.

And that, my friend, is how magic happens.

There will be more to come!

It is your turn, amigo

• Share your what you´ve discovered through filling in the prompts and first action steps!

You don’t need to know how your dream life will happen. You just need to know what it looks and feels like — and be bold enough to take the first step towards it.

Two weeks is no time!— you may be thinking.

But oh,

It is enough time to create powerful ripple effects!

And trust me, once you get a teaser of how your life can be when you follow your heart´s desires… there is no going back. That feeling of rightfulness you will experience will be your greatest driver.

Some lessons I´ve learned and helpful advice…

• The more you do things the clearer the path gets.

• Talk to people who are passionate about the same things as you are, and take care of them. You´ll be able to support each other in getting to the places you want to get!

• You only need to know the next step, the path will appear.

• Planning is good, too much planning is blocking.

• Be open and trust the signs.

• The sooner you try out what you think your dream is, the sooner you´ll know if that´s what you really wanted after all!

About the Restoration Academy:

The Restoration Academy is an EU-supported project with the aim of spreading ecosystem restoration camps across Europe. This camp is being organised and will be coordinated by RE-PEAT, a youth-led collective advocating for peatlands. The camp itself is an opportunity for young people to engage in hands-on restoration, nature-based learning, and youth networking. Through the camp participants will uncover connections between agriculture, cultural systems, and ecological restoration, which challenge conventional views on modern farming, urban landscapes, and wildlife. With a focus on peatlands, paludiculture, and climate resilience, the camp welcomes all, especially those new to environmentalism, creating an inclusive space where new perspectives on environmental stewardship can emerge, encouraging learning, questioning, and reimagining our role in the natural world.

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Love,

Paula