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Welcome
My name is Debbie and I would like to introduce myself and tell you why I created Dreams on the Rocks – it's quite a story! Most people have dreams about what their lives are going to be like, and they are filled with hope. But as life goes on, things happen that they didn't expect, and they lose sight of their dreams. Some people have to face terrible tragedies and great losses that they feel they'll never get over. The beautiful dreams they had fade away, and they feel hopeless and lost. Their dreams are 'on the rocks.' That is what happened to me, and maybe you can relate to my story. By the time I was 42, I'd experienced many really difficult losses over a period of many years. I felt like I'd lost myself, and all my dreams, too. But just when I was at my lowest, I plunged back into life and decided to try some things I had never done in my life. I was determined to find my dreams again and find who I was. I rode a horse and I was terrified, got thrown off but got back on just to get a picture for my kids to show that I did it, I was an inexperienced downhill skier but I started going skiing by myself and loved it. I took many classes, such as dancing, calligraphy, yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Spanish, and creative writing just to name a few. Painting was the last class I took. I used to paint in high school, but hadn't painted a thing since graduation. I got married, had kids became a single parent and I forgot how good it felt to hold a brush, paint, and draw, and lose myself doing something that I loved. The class I took was a rock painting class. It was simple: just painting windows and a door on a rock to make it look like a little cottage. Well, I went crazy with it after just one class! I tried lots of different ways to make the windows and doors look real. The rock houses took hold in my imagination, and I began looking everywhere for rocks to paint, rocks that had just the right look for a particular style of house or cottage. 
Eventually, I started to paint rocks for all my neighbours and friends – with one catch. They didn't get a rock unless they had a dream. They had to tell me something about their dream. All the rocks I paint are meant to remind people to never give up on their dreams. I have made hundreds of personalized rocks over the past ten years. To go back to my own story....during the time when I was getting back into painting, working on the rocks, and going through my personal losses, I discovered I needed a career change too. I started volunteering. At the time, I was working in the Oil and Gas industry (in administration). It was not what I wanted to do, and never had been. What I really wanted to do was help people, so I began volunteering at a local hospice where people who are dying are cared for. Eventually, the hospice management team asked me to apply for the Volunteer Manager's position. I did that, and was hired, and have been there now for over three and half years. I have found my passion and purpose in life, and it all started when my dreams were on the rocks. Then I found my dreams again – by painting the rocks. Giving a loved one a painted, personalized rock or coaster may not change their life like painting them did for me, but it might |
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