I love finding motivational, self-help books to share! Today, I have a book to share that should be on the reading list of anyone seeking a little re-focus on life's dreams and goals. Check out How to Dream: A motivational guide to a life of hope, success, and freedom! Learn about this inspirational book and author Deedee Cummings and read my thoughts on the book!
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How do you dream in a world that crushes dreams? That is just one of the many concepts skillfully
addressed in How to Dream by Deedee Cummings.
As a therapist, attorney, author, and CEO of Make A Way Media, Cummings draws from her own
journey and decades long career serving the community’s most vulnerable members. Cummings is also
the founder of the Louisville Book Festival, an annual celebration of books and reading hosting more than
150 authors and presenters (in its fifth year) on October 18 and 19, 2024 at the Kentucky International
Convention Center. She is well known for her work treating the anxious and depressed, as well as
uplifting others. But it’s her latest book that is striking a chord with parents, educators, and librarians
across the globe. After authoring seventeen books for children, Cummings is publishing her first book
written for adults.
“My hope for How to Dream is that it will spark conversations in the community about why we have
been actively dissuaded from our dreams since childhood. The saddest thing I see in therapy is a person
with no dreams because that means they have no hope. What kind of life do you want to have and why
don’t you go get it? If we can isolate the negative messages we consistently receive, we can separate them
from being assigned to us.” Cummings noted. “These conversations can include discussions about why it
has been so hard for humans to slow down and how we can intentionally choose to give ourselves more
time than we give to the ever-increasing demands life piles on us. I hope people of all backgrounds and
walks of life read the book and are able to feel a sense of peace and direction. Even more than that, I hope
people feel a renewed sense of hope that ignites their imagination and makes them feel unstoppable. We
have to talk about life and become active in our destiny, not just move along beside life. People who read
this book will find the practical fuel they have been looking for to put their dreams in motion.”
How to Dream is Relatable and Motivational. While everyone knows "how" to dream--this book gives you much more than advice for daydreaming and basic goal setting. This book gives you the inspiration and motivation to revisit old dreams and follow through on existing dreams--or have the courage to dream again. The author writes in a style that is conversational and relatable to people in various life stages and situations. Whether you are jaded against dreaming because dreaming isn't "practical" in your current life "stage," or whether you are caught up in the obstacles and roadblocks that seem to block you from achieving your dream (or goal)--this book has tidbits of wisdom for anyone.
Expect Real, Thought-Provoking Advise in this Book. In addition to be relatable and motivational--the author offers some very realistic points to ponder and realizations. Maybe you are doubting whether now is the right time to follow your dreams? (As we ALL seem to do when facing something new and challenging!)
You will never feel completely ready to do the thing you are about to do.
Do it anyway.
-Deedee Cummings, "How to Dream"
Or--maybe you worry that your dream isn't going to work because of outside influences or maybe the person you sought help from turned you down and left you feeling lost and rejected.
If you ask someone for help and they say no, be grateful that they did. They were not meant to be a part of your journey.
-Deedee Cummings, "How to Dream"
This last quote was one that I really needed to hear as I read this book! I think, especially for women, we have a harder time moving on from rejection! This simple quote, along with author's related advice, puts the fear of rejection into a different perspective.
Would I recommend How to Dream by Deedee Cummings? I loved this book and I've already shared it with my daughters as they are in the "early" years of life's dreaming. The author isn't preachy, but is real and down-to-earth in her advice and suggestions. Take some time with this book. Read through the pages, focus on the quotes and highlights that speak to you and work through the written exercises. This is a book that you will want to keep handy to revisit from time time as your dreams grow and change--or stall and struggle. Definitely put this on your reading list for the new year if you are one for resolutions or words of the year. (My word of the year next year may just be "dream" after reading this book!)
I also noticed that there is a supplemental workbook that I'll be picking up as well!
Deedee Cummings is a professional dreamer. She is also an author of eighteen books, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children and an extreme lack of stories that reflected their life experiences. Books published by Make A Way focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, Well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. In 2021, she was appointed to the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear acknowledging her decades long service to the children and families of Kentucky. Deedee is also the founder of The Louisville Book Festival which celebrates its fifth year in 2024 and hosts over 150 authors and presenters from all over the country. She was inspired to work to highlight and celebrate a culture of reading in her community after working as an in-home therapist and visiting homes of children who had no books. Cummings believes literacy is a fundamental human right. Her work highlights inspiring messages that remind us all it is never too late to begin again.
She is currently working to adapt her latest children’s series inspired by the life of her daughter, Kayla Pecchioni (a Broadway actress) to a Broadway musical. Deedee recently founded the Make A Way Mindset program to teach the unshakable mindset she has developed as an entrepreneur of thirty years. Her next book is her first book written for adults called How to Dream and will be released in October 2024.
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