“I dream to become a wife who makes happy memories with her husband!”

Dream Achievement Forecast: September 2022

Why?

When my husband Ryan and I were engaged, we did premarital counseling with a couple who was not formally trained. The wife in this couple started having one-on-one phone calls with me, separate from the normal sessions. What started as her reaching out to provide “more support” turned into accusations that I was “the problem” in our relationship. She accused me of being angry and controlling, and was projecting false realities about my relationship with Ryan. But since I was getting married and was vulnerable, I believed her. On our final call, she told me I should not marry Ryan. After we hung up, I thought, “I can’t remember ever being happy in my relationship.”
We ended the counseling. I pursued real therapy to recover from what happened and regain confidence. And we, of course, got married. Fast forward four years to life at home during the pandemic, and I began to experience a similar forgetfulness of happy times while being stuck at home. But through TMYD, I remembered my desire to travel and have adventures with Ryan — something we had talked about doing before the pandemic but weren’t able to do.
The dream exploration process reminded me of both the pain I experienced during premarital counseling alongside my desire to travel and make new memories with Ryan. Ultimately, I want to redeem my experience of forgotten happy memories by making new ones to remember.

How?

1. Initiate a day-long retreat with Ryan where we can brainstorm and plan fun activities we want to do, including trips.

2. Create a plan for making memories in the day-to-day (i.e. dates, weekly/monthly activities to get us out of the house and doing something fun together).

3. Plan the itineraries for 3 trips (one in-state, one out of state, and one international). Conduct the research necessary to go on an international trip in light of COVID restrictions.

4. Create a way to document memories (i.e. photos, written experiences) such as a journal or scrapbook/photo album to fill up.