DREAMHATCHING

7 sTAGEs of bIRTHING youR DREAMs

C o N s T A N C E M E A R s

DREAMHATCHING

C o N s T A N C E M E A R s

TAblE of CoNTENTs:

Introduction: Dream Hatching ............................................................................... 3

Resonating: Sing your song; Find your flock ..................................................... 5

Quickening: Co-create with the LifeForce .......................................................... 7

Nesting: Create space for that which hasn’t come into being yet ............. 9

Brooding: Give your Dream time to find its form ..........................................11

Hatching: Sometimes falling apart is the next step ......................................13

Nurturing: Love your fledgling Dream until it finds its wings ...................15

Soaring: Take your Dream to new heights. ......................................................16

INTRoDuCTIoN:Are you ready to bring your Dreams to life?

Hi, I’m Constance Mears, and I’m happy to share with you a very different

kind of “how to.” At first I thought Dream Hatching was just a poetic way

to explain how to manifest your Dreams, but I’ve come to realized it is

actually a different way to create your life.

Following the metaphor of nesting and gestation, Dream Hatching walks

you through the stages of “birthing” a Dream. It’s a feminine-based model,

different from the masculine “builder” model I think we’re all used to.

Essentially, it’s about co-creating with the LifeForce. You might call that

God, the Universe, the Spirit - whatever, but it’s working with that powerful

force that animates all life on this planet.

Over the course of 20 years, I’ve found that the LifeForce is interactive

and will, in fact, conspire with us on our juiciest, most authentic Dreams.

Resources show up. We run into just the right person. Our Dream, that was

once just an inkling begins to take form. And once we’ve created space for

it, our Dream will emerge naturally.

Dream Hatching gives us the encouragement to trust our instinctual

selves, that inner knowing and to follow what our soul knows is calling.

Are YOU ready to bring your Dream into being?

REsoNATINGFind your Flock

For millennia, women gathered together to do their work – at the well, at

the river, at the market. The hormone oxytocin, more prevalent in fe-

males, wires us to “tend and befriend,” rather than fight to the death. This

historical difference in styles informs how we operate even today, but

most “success” books favor the masculine “take no prisoners” competitive

approach.  Is it any wonder then that women in our society have difficulty

relating to the masculine-centric models of “make it happen” through

force and action?

The Dream Hatching honors the masculine model, but offers an alterna-

tive from a more feminine-based perspective.

The first stage in Dream Hatching is to FIND YOUR FLOCK. 

It’s important to have a group you resonate with, like-

minded

others who you trust. You know, your peeps.

Finding a flock is helpful: for protection, for sharing

resources and responsibilities, and to share the journey.

Your flock might be a support group, a cooperative, a

mastermind group, a Facebook interest group, or three

friends that meet for coffee.

And how do you find your flock?

By expressing your authentic self. Your inner being. By singing your song.

In the bird world, everybody sings. Not just the famous celebrity birds,

the best looking or the ones with the best voices. Singing is their birth-

right. It is part of who they are. And likewise, as humans, creating is our

birthright. We have been given the amazing tools of imagination and free

will with which to bring our Dreams to life.

So what does it mean to sing your song? It means to claim your authentic

voice, your authentic Self. Be you. Without apology. The trees are filled with

the songs of many birds, with different styles and behaviors. You know the

saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together.” Well, how will they find you unless

you sing your true song?

If you’re having trouble expressing your true essence, you may have never

been given permission. You may have muffled it for most of your life, so as

not to ruffle someone’s feathers. You may have been singing someone else’s

song instead.

Start singing your true song and see who shows up. See who feels threat-

ened and wants you to sing their song. Once you start looking, you’ll find

your flock everywhere.

“ The only way To Find your voice is To use iT. Talk abouT The Things you love. your voice will Follow.”~ ausTin kleon

QuICKENINGgeT quieT so you c an hear your c alling

Winter’s blank canvas gives us the chance to be still and hear what’s calling

within us.

After the thrashing of winter storms, silence slipcovers the landscape, muting

sounds, draping everything in a soft blanket, so that we can look at our lives

fresh again.

With the cacophony of modern life turned low, one can begin to hear the inner

voice that holds the wisdom you’ll need for your journey ahead.

To create this setting, schedule a time when you can be quiet. If you have kids

and a spouse or house mates, see if a single

friend will let you borrow a nook for an

afternoon. Rent a hotel room. Find a quiet

place in nature if the weather is hospitable.

Unplug all technology. Set aside your

troubles or concerns.

Take a deep breath and then let it out

slowly. Take another deep breath, letting

the breath exhale naturally. Pay attention

to the sound it makes coming from your

mouth. Breathe in through your nose,

breathe out through your mouth. Breathe in clarity, harmony, peacefulness, joy,

love. Breathe out tension, worry, pain, bitterness. Like the trees in winter, let go

of the deadwood.

Hold this question in your mind: What in my life is calling to be born? Allow the

answer to rise from within you. Not what someone else expects of you, not what

you think the world wants, but what makes your heart quicken. As Rumi says,

“Respond to every call that excites your spirit.

All you need to do is be quiet and pay attention.

When you feel that something growing in your belly, that new Dream wanting

to be born, the next thing you need to do is CREATE SPACE for it.

NEsTINGcreaTing space For ThaT which hasn’ T come inTo Form yeT

Think of a nest as Sacred Space – a sanctuary where your Dream will hatch

and find its wings. It is space you create for something that hasn’t come

into being. When a bird builds a nest, there are no eggs and there are no

hatchlings. All it knows is that it feels something deep within that needs to

be released. And it trusts that feeling.

If it were human, it might say, “But I am not an expert. I don’t have a degree.

I’m too old. What will others think?” But the bird entertains none of these

ideas. It simply follows its own inner knowing. Its instincts. Don’t let your

head talk you out of that which your heart knows.

Nests can be time and space you carve out to study a craft, or a getaway to

rekindle the passion of a marriage. It can be a move to a new place, a habi-

tat that supports you more fully. A nest does not just happen. It requires

action and forethought.

The beautiful thing about nests is that they are made with readily avail-

able materials. There’s no architectural drawing, no permits. Its crafted, not

built the way a house is. It is woven of humble supplies like twigs and grass

and moss and mud. It is LEED Gold standard, made of

biodegradable substances, custom-fitted to both circum-

stances and purpose.

The nest requires both structure and comfort. Structure

so that it supports you. That looks like a schedule at the

gym, not a “let’s see when I feel like it” plan. That looks

like accountability, a timeline, a vision statement. Without

those structural twigs, the form is unstable.

But without the feathers, the moss, the softness, those

twigs are liable to poke and annoy you so much that you

end up abandoning the effort before your Dream has

found its wings. You need that balance of structure and

comfort. You need to make a nest.

And then what? Let me introduce you to the lost art of

BROODING.

bRooDINGdon’ T JusT do someThing, siT There!

Once you’ve felt the Quickening and have created space for your Dream, the

“egg stage” will emerge organically.

Say your Dream is to open your own business helping people in some capac-

ity. Well, that desire could be expressed in an infinite number of ways. Working

from home, freelancing, opening an office or store, or partnering with some-

one. And within those variations are a thousand more variations. Laying the

egg is about committing to the process. The egg, at first, is just a bunch of cells

swirling with potential, but without much form. As time goes by, with each

decision you make, the Dream begins to take shape. Its not ready to fly, it’s

not even ready to become visible to the world, which brings up the subject of

brooding.

We live in an instant gratification world where overnight success stories are

celebrated and held as the ideal. But in nature, most things emerge gradually,

often growing in stages like the larvae or the egg. Life is not an ATM. Organic

things emerge when the time is right. When the circumstances are present

that will support its growth. For Robins in particular, hatching is timed to occur

when the humidity is 50% and temperatures are between 45 and 65 degrees

Fahrenheit.

How does a Robin know when the time is “right?” How could it know in ad-

vance what the weather will do, what predators might be lurking nearby? I

believe the Robin tunes into its instinctual nature, following an inclination and

then the next. And I have found that doing the same yields results that could

not have been orchestrated by simply taking action or relying on only the

knowledge of my rational mind.

As Joseph Campbell put it, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors

for you where there were only walls.”

Or William Murray about his expedition to Mount Everest.

“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth

that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the

moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of

things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream

of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen

incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed

would have come his way.”

Brooding is often as much about not doing as it is about doing. The work of brooding

parallels another abstract verb: mustering. How does one muster? What is involved

in mustering? For instance, courage? The word courage is from the french, meaning

heart. How, exactly, does one muster “heart?” That’s important to know, because a

heartless Dream won’t survive.

A Dream without a pulse isn’t sustainable, it’s not alive. It isn’t tapped into the Life-

Force. That is the essential difference between the masculine conquer-build model

and the feminine birth model.

There are a lot of synthetic, investment-cash plumped up Dreams out there, but the

moment you pull the plug and ask it to sustain itself, it falls flat. Lifeless. People can tell

the difference.

Spend the time to Brood, even though to others it looks like “doing nothing.” Sit with it.

Clarify your vision, hone your intention, give your own heart and soul to it.

The brood paTchBrooding birds have what’s called a “brood patch.” The space over their heart where

the feathers thin out so that the warmth of their heart can warm the egg.

Do research online, ask your flock for feedback, tend to the nest, play with the idea in

your mind, trying on different scenarios. You may have to say no to some opportuni-

ties, not because they have no value, but because you have to protect your time and

energy. Treat yourself as if you were literally pregnant – pregnant with possibilities.

Sure, you can take a break now and then, but never let your Dream “go cold.”

Once the egg has a heartbeat, further development often falls into place. The right

people show up, the money appears, the ideas flow. Eventually the circumstances

come together that will support your Dream.

And one day the egg of your Dream will begin the hatching stage, often triggered by

events out of your control. Your Dream is about to take on a life of its

own. That stage often feels as if you are CRACKING UP.

HATCHINGsomeTimes Falling aparT opens a whole new world To you.

A Dream with Heart begins to take on a life of its own. While it was

safely contained in the egg, in a cozy little nest out of sight from the

world, you felt a sense of control. Suddenly the shell begins to crack,

from the inside out. Your Dream has outgrown its safe haven.

It’s time to hatch.

Hatching is often triggered by events – a

review in a prestigious publication, a large

order, a chance meeting.

Within the egg, an embryo watches for a

change in the light – and starts to chip away

at the thinnest place on the egg. That’s why

hatcheries use light instead of just heat to

hatch eggs. A little limelight goes a long way

to setting a hatch in motion.

Watching that egg emerge though can be a

little nerve-wracking. Am I ready? What will

happen? Will it grow? Will it soar? The very

thing you have spent hours and months pro-

tecting, starts to fall apart. Everything is about

to change, but we don’t know what that looks like. At this “Hatching”

stage, it is us who may feel that we are “cracking up.’

But, like the egg, the only way to grow is to leave our past self behind.

We are no longer “brooders.” Our Dream is alive and we are busy be-

yond belief. Overnight we have a squawking, gangly, awkward very

hungry mouth to feed.

The next stage is all about NURTURING.

“ The bird dares To break The shell, Then The shell breaks open and The bird c an Fly openly. This is The simplesT principle oF success. you dream, you dare and you Fly.”israelmore ayivor

NuRTuRINGloving your Fledgling dream despiTe iTs Flaws

Oh my, you might be thinking. After endless hours of brooding, visualizing

your heart-filled Dream soaring above the clouds, you are met with this…

this… well, you’re not sure. What IS this thing I have birthed?

Your Dream is a gaping mouth, a gangly, awkward, vulnerable creation. You are

exhausted. Its little peeps and squawks might even be bringing unwanted at-

tention. How’s the book coming? a nosy colleague might ask, noticing the gray

circles under your eyes. That gallery owner might request to see jpgs today

of your paintings ... that aren’t finished. The article about your new business

comes out less than flattering.

Your little Dream is hardly soaring. This isn’t what you envisioned.

Be patient. So many Dreams are abandoned at this stage. Out of shame that

it wasn’t as grand as you had imagined. Out of confusion about what went

wrong. Over grief about such a feeble Dream.

The Dream at the Hatchling stage needs nourishment. Encouragement. You –

staying with it.

Your Dream at this stage will require far more time, effort, attention, focus than

you might have ever imagined. It’s helpful to regurgitate all those juicy tidbits

that nourished you during the Brooding phase.

It is during the Hatchling phase that you understand why it was important to

find your flock and know what you’re made of. Building the wrong kind or size

of nest becomes really uncomfortable at this stage. Life-threatening to the

Dream if you felt foolish building a nest as large as your vision called for.

But alas, this stage doesn’t last that long, and before you know it, your Dream is

a little Fledgeling. It’s on its way to SOARING.

soARINGleave The comForT oF The nesT

As you can see, the “soaring” Dream is anything but an overnight

success. Hopefully your Dream has thrived through what can only be

described as a journey of co-creation.

A Dream that is birthed takes on a life of its own, like the cool bistro

that seems to be more than the sum of its parts; Like the like the play

that “takes off;” like the home that once seemed “out of reach,” but

now serves as a haven and a sanctuary.

When a Dream is co-created with the LifeForce it “goes places.”

Like the eagles who generally fly at 20-30 mph – except when they

are migrating. Using their own strength, flapping their own wings,

they could never make the journey without becoming exhausted.

Instead, they use the thermal updrafts to gain altitude. They are liter-

ally carried to greater heights. Working with the LifeForce, they truly

soar, often reaching 50-75 mph.

ENDNoTEdream haTching

Thank you for taking the time to read about Dream

Hatching. I hope it has been as rich and evocative for

you as it has been for me. No matter what process

you use, I hope you’ll commit to giving your Dreams

everything you’ve got.

Here’s a bit of wisdom from another bird-loving

writer, Anne Lamott.

oh my god, whaT iF you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75 and you never goT your memoir or novel wriT Ten, or you didn’ T go swimming in warm pools and oceans all Those years bec ause your Thighs were Jiggly and you had a nice big comForTable Tummy; or you were JusT so sTrung ouT on perFec Tionism and people-pleasing ThaT you ForgoT To have a big Juic y creaTive liFe, oF imaginaTion and radic al silliness and sTaring oFF inTo space like when you were a kid? iT ’s going To break your hearT. don’ T leT This happen. -- anne lamoT T, auThor oF bird by bird

www.DreamHatching.com • constancemears@gmail.com