My nr one life goal is to create a positive effect for over 100 million people all over the world during my lifetime. A goal I set a few years back without any plan for how I will achieve or measure it.
I have decided to trust the universe and destiny that opportunities will arise where I can serve the world to create the positive effect. Early on I set my focus on two charity organizations. The first one helping children to have a home and a family. The second to give microloans to entrepreneurs. I wrote an article about it, and you can read more by clicking HERE. So far I made 122 loans to various projects all over the world.
The Universe found a project
In Steve Jobs Stanford University commencements speech 2005 he spoke about the importance of following your dreams and trust universe.
“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs
When I set my life goal, I trusted that it would sort out and it turned out that Universe had a plan.
Together with one of my best friends I had started to arrange brunches so our joint friends could meet up and get acquainted with each other. After a while, we invited more and more people, and I had several times asked a neighbor in my area to join. One day he accepted and we walked together to the event. We started to talk and it turned out we had the same passion. We wanted to start a project that would make a difference in people’s lives.
The idea behind the project
A few weeks later we met again and my neighbor, Aviad Arik Herman asked me if I could help him write some letters for a project involving the dress for Miss Universe Sweden 2016. More passionate discussions lead to that we founded a new organization, One Life Dreams.
The idea was simple. We would make a difference by fulfilling the dreams of children. Photographers from all around the world were invited to participate in this voluntary project, and document moments of breakthroughs & fulfilling children’s dreams against all the odds. All the photographs would be printed on fabric and Aviad would create a fantastic dress for Miss Universe Sweden 2016. The Dress of Dreams.
Aviad and I believe every child should have the opportunity to be loved and the possibility to fulfill their dreams. Our purpose is to inspire people to make dreams come true no matter how unachievable they may seem to be.
We hope that the project will touch people’s hearts and inspire us all to have the courage to live the life we want—be who we want, and do the things we want.
Amazing photos from all over the world
Aviad and I started to work at once by involving friends and family to make the project possible. We created the above video, a webpage, logo and most importantly a message about the importance of children's dreams. The first submission was from a Linkedin friend, all the way from Pakistan. A story about children getting extra help with their studies by his wife and their dreams.
We managed to get help all the way from the United States to collect even more photos, and in the end, we received a total of 53 images and stories from all over the world. Stories of no dreams and soap to dreams about flying and be Beyonce.
The Dress of Dreams & The Exhibition
Aviad designed a fantastic national costume for Miss Universe Sweden 2016 using all the photos we collected, literally embody the very stories of all the children participating in the project. The national costume was showcased on the oldest TV program in the world – Miss Universe, seen by over 1 billion people worldwide in January 2017.
In respect to contradiction opinions regarding the beauty pageant, we see this as an extraordinary opportunity to do something that matters, spreading and sharing this beautiful message with as many people as possible.
In August 2016 we revealed the dress in an exhibition held during Gothenburg Culture Festival. We displayed all the photos, the story behind each photo and the Dress of Dreams. The response was amazing. Visitors were amazed by the photos; some cried learning about the stories of children without dreams, some smiled at the story of Beyonce dancing in the street of a township.
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View all photos link to Google Photos
The Dress of Dreams & Miss Sweden 2016
Ida Ovmar won the prestigious title Miss Sweden, and she received the honor to wear the dress and represent Sweden at the Miss Universe Competition in Manila, Philippines.
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1 BILLION People inspired by the Dress Of Dreams
To describe the feeling when you see the project displayed in such a fantastic way is impossible to do with words. The media loved the dress. The Telegraph in the UK listed the dress as “The most outlandish costumes so far” and the Stylish US listed the dress as nr 3 in the list of 15 Most Elaborate National Costumes From the Miss Universe 2017 Pageant.
The importance of making a difference
At least for me, a big part of feeling fulfilled is to help others. I do this by sharing ideas and concept on this site to help people and organizations grow. By founding One Life Dreams together with Aviad, I have created an outlet for helping others. I aspire to make a difference, and I hope that you have been inspired by this article. Anyone can make a difference and start a project that reaches 1 billion people. All we have to do is trust our gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever and we will find the right ideas and ways to reach our dreams.
Special thanks to
Special Thanks to all our generous sponsors & Partners:
Göteborgs Kulturkalas
Göteborg/Gothenburg: The Official Guide
Göteborgs Stad
Majornas Grafiska AB
Miss Universe – Sweden
One Life
Steinbrenner & Nyberg
GöteborgsOperan
Clarion Hotel Post
DJ POLICE
Photography: Peter Håkansson
