fishing in koh samui

Catch your Dream!

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Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

It took me years to realize that yesterday is nothing more than a passing memory and tomorrow is nothing more than a hopeful promise.  Today holds our only existence and this very moment is all we really have to put to good use.

There is no better day than today (this moment right now) to actually pursue your passion and to live with the purpose of pursuing that passion or that dream.  I am not saying that planning is not essential, but there is a difference between planning and preparation versus hopeful wishing for our dreams to come true.  We can prepare ourselves for those dreams by taking action towards them.  Each small step towards that dream is a journey towards ultimate success.  Dreams are the gasoline to our lives and they ignite us when we catch the dream and find a purpose within it.

Our dreams have already been implanted in each one of us by a higher power.  In my case I believe it is God Almighty’s dream which has already been assigned to me to fulfill. One of my beliefs is that life’s next adventure is to live it and my purpose is to unleash the power in stories to motivate others. In the end I believe we were all made equal to the task at hand.

sunrise in koh samui

sunrise in koh samui

I have already been fascinated with stories and coupled to a passion for adventure, I decided that I would pursue stories of people seeing the impossible. These are people who dare to dream and believe in themselves and have turned adversity into an advantage and continues to move forward as a better, stronger person with a heightened sense of destiny for their lives.

When I was in Koh Samui, I was blessed to wake up every morning at 4 am for a 5:30 am pick-up time to shoot before the sun rises.  I had the opportunity to see life awaken as the sun rose on an island 10ºN of the equator and be grateful for the dawning of a new day and a new opportunity.  I was grateful to see the tide wrestling with the the position of the moon; one day in and one day out.  Early morning crabs coming out of their holes and birds chirping away.  The most interesting I have to admit was the sight of Thai fisherman relentless in the pursuit of catching a dream or rather catching a day’s fish.

catching a dream in Thailand

I realized how much of a gift a dream can be to fulfill.  One day I woke up in my study in a town called Milton, Ontario to pursue a story on an adventure towards mindfulness for the Oprah Winfrey Network.  I caught a dream, then I caught a plane daring to believe, daring to create and daring to be bold!

Dream The Impossible, did you catch your dream!

Yoga in the Buddha Gardens

See The Impossible

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I have to confess that at first I could not understand the concept of blogging or to be more specific, why people blog.  Fast forward 3 months later and now I have a dream and a goal to express my  thoughts, my ideas and my beliefs to purposely help others.

So what happened? I saw the impossible.  I saw that I could help others and that my creativity coupled with a purpose could become a sphere of influence for many people facing a challenge.   I began to dream big and those dreams started talking back to me filled with creative ideas.  My energy levels peaked off the scale when I realized that I have a roll as a creator to spark ideas, which can create a movement within a community of similar minds.

More specifically, I started to see how I can revolutionize ideas through creative channels like video and this platform would provide hope to someone out there who is embarking on a dream as well.  How did I go about doing it?  I started to visualize how my stories will impact the world and I took action towards making that visualization a reality.

 

5 am sunrise and yoga

5 am yoga meditation

I pictured myself in the same league as Oprah Winfrey producing amazing and unique stories for the network. With increased visualization, my mind started racing to achieve the impossible, so instead of thinking outside the box I made my own box and I got into it.  This means I allowed myself to be myself and created amazing storyboards on amazing people.  With upcoming projects, we crafted videos with a sense of transparency; all natural footage unfolding in real time without scripting a scene, simply following the storyboard.  This we hoped would be able to reach more folks.  It became important to be unique and honest within my relationships and this transparency brought about collaborations with other people.

Take for example, my most recent project on an adventure towards mindfulness started with an idea.  It turned out to be 8 of the most memorable days of my entire life with the flow of synergies allowing great footage to be captured.  Every person on the project was working towards a common goal believing that this story would help someone.

Namaste with Yoga George in mindfulness

George Anthony on the shoot of an “Adventure towards Mindfulness”

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See The Impossible and Dream Big because “you are only limited by what you think you can do” – Dave Jacka

The next step of this project is submission to the Oprah Winfrey Network’s Super Soul Sunday as an original short story.

We can’t wait for it to be shown!

positive energy

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!

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How do you explain a dream that comes to life? A dream that words can’t express and money can’t buy. A dream so powerful that you believed in it so much, that when it becomes a reality you wonder if you are still dreaming it.

That was my experience in Koh Samui shooting a short story on achieving “mindfulness through yoga” with 8 people that I met for the first time (George, Scott, Stan, Yuri, Shaleeza, Sofia, Alisa, Veronica). The synergy was off the scale with positive energy resonating to a perfect harmonic leading to memories beyond my wildest dreams.  When all the elements come together, it makes you believe that these events are synchronized by a higher power, ordained when only positive energy is emitted by all.

mindfulness

mindfulness

 

First of all, I am grateful for a collaboration with George Anthony who agreed to be my main character in a story about mindfulness and nature yoga.  Apart from his athletic ability in pushing his physical limits to achieve a new dimension in mindfulness, I learnt a lot about the power of the mind and how to increase the awareness of my surroundings including the people around me.

It allowed me to see the world through another person’s eyes and to keep believing in my dreams and most importantly taking action to make them a reality. I was simply inspired to be in the present moment. Inspired to develop an attitude of gratitude and to appreciate the journey of life which has already been ordained.  Most importantly I can wake up, give thanks and have the power to choose the outcomes of those dreams. I have a say in my destiny.

good times with Scott and George

memories worth dieing for with George Anthony and Scott Cioffi

 

I am aware of my own existence, my own journey and I can be in the present moment.  I can choose focus on the now since anxiety is yet to happen and regret has already passed by.  Instead, I choose to build a brand new door to allow the opportunities of life to come knocking in.

Dream Big and Live beyond your wildest Dreams.

 

reggae party in Koh Samui

friends for life

George Anthony Adventure Yoga

An adventure towards mindfulness

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I always say it is very good to prepare and planning the storyboard is key however in my style of filming you are not allowed to overplan.  This is counter intuitive but allow me to explain.

I usually fly in, meet my character, observe the environment for the first time and fly back out.  A visual storyboard is all I have with images connecting the character to the flow of the story.  How it evolves in a spontaneous environment is anyone’s guess.  I have learnt that the magic reveals itself when I allow myself to let go of preconceived notions and permit the energy to flow.  Being open-minded to suggestions and other people’s ideas is absolutely crucial.

morning yoga in Koh Samui

6 am morning yoga shoot in Koh Samui

 

For my most recent project I am in Koh Samui, a small island in the gulf of Thailand.  With a population of 65,000, it is known for its palm-fringed beaches circling coconut groves and dense, mountainous rainforest.  We are shooting a story on mindfulness and nature yoga with George Anthony at the Vikasa Yoga Resort and Hotel.

What I didn’t plan for was the humidity and heat that was unbelievably unbearable from sunrise to sunset. Averaging 39ºC the heat was sweltering and some locations did not provide much cloud cover with intermittent rain.  Weather and climate conditions can dictate the timing of your shoot.  What I found to be most important is to not allow the environment to dictate your attitude on the shoot.  Instead having an attitude of “no worries, we’ll find a way” produced a positive energy and a calm sense of peace knowing it will be ok.  Each day we found a way to make the storyboard come alive with the scenes that I had initially envisioned.

George Anthony Adventure Yoga

Morning Yoga in Koh Samui

In the end, this turned out to be a remarkable story with some of the most amazing shots and cinematography which will reveal a great story about mindfulness, nature and the connection to inner peace.

#Dream Big and Live The Adventure!!

Adventure Yoga in Koh Samui

Waterfalls in Koh Samui