I wrote an article in 2018, Magnetic Energy; highlighting the feeling when you meet someone and instantly connect. It’s like some sort of magnet brought the two of you together. I love when this happens as it reminds me of the beauty of human interaction. It’s hard to conceptualize how or why this occurs, but I truly believe in a universal power that brings people together. Some may call it coincidence, serendipity, kismet, or mere chance encounter but it is an indescribable feeling and one that fills you with an inner warmth.

That is exactly what happened when I met with Virginia, founder of The Florence Dream Lab & naturopath Giulia Paolini, who offers treatments there. Initially, I had set up a brief interview with them for a focus on how Florentines can adopt natural treatments to transition into the seasonal changes with ease as Guilia’s philosophy is, “listen to your body, communicate with your mind.”

As our conversation progressed, I learned about the wonderful concept that makes up Florence Dream Lab. It opened in September of 2019, becoming a center for creatives and artists that offers classes, tours, and treatments. Virginia explains the idea behind the space, “we believe in personal happiness as the foundation of a rich life. To make this happen we have to get back in contact with our individuality and our creativity, to water them and love them as if they were plants. If people are the soil, Florence Dream Lab helps to find the seed best suited to them, to plant it and watch it take root, to give them the tools to take care of the plant on their own.”

For most of us, the pandemic shifted our mindset on what really is important in life and how to integrate more of those things in our daily living moving forward. “The goal is to give life to all those activities that we’ve always dreamed of and which for various reasons we’ve never let ourselves try” states Virginia.

At Florence Dream Lab, there are a plethora of options to go inward and spark joy through a creative outlet. When you think of an artist, often visual arts such as painting come to mind but truly it can be whatever invokes passion, curiosity, and ignites your inner child. Internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development, Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “children love to dream, to make up stories, use their imaginations—and so would you if you’d let yourself. Remember how you loved to draw, make up verses, or songs, hear stories, make up your own games, wander aimlessly into your fantasy excursions with anyone who was willing to listen or participate...The fully integrated person is capable of being both an adult and a child simultaneously. Recapture the childlike feelings of wide-eyed excitement, spontaneous appreciation, cutting loose, and being full of awe and wonder at this magnificent universe.”

It is located in a historic Renaissance building on Borgo degli Albizi, 13, 50122 Firenze Fl (+393349875600) and welcomes tourists and locals to participate in pottery classes, screen printing, coffee brewing, and leather making just to name a few! The studio is open to new ideas as well, so if you have a dream they want to know about it and do whatever they can to make it happen. The possibilities are endless! To learn more check them out at www.florencedreamlab.com