Why Dream?
Part of the human experience is growing towards achievement. Producing and being a part of something larger than oneself, that creates a sense of fulfillment and purpose. Unfortunately we often forgo this need to satisfy our more basic survival musts. Companies squash creativity, overwork people and quality of life diminishes. We are told that this is normal, that it is necessary, that it is exactly what we should expect. To be frank, this is not true. There are a multitude of ways that we can be fulfilled and live with direction and purpose. There are multitudes of ways that we can explore our own creativity.
Even if we must stay at a job for its financial stability there is no reason why we can’t pursue a direction and purpose outside of those hours. There is also no reason why we can’t have quality time with family if we desire it, granted it helps if they do to. There is also no reason why we can’t pursue things we enjoy just for the experience of it; not to mention there is no reason why we can’t have it all as long as the dreams resonate with our truth. What I mean by this is that the dream comes from yourself rather than what society says you should have or do. Dreaming allows us to see the bigger picture; it allows us to connect to the things that really matter and that create joy and fulfillment in life. Dreaming also helps us to problem solve, stretch our perspective and look at things from all angles.
Re-claiming the Right to Dream
There are many beliefs surrounding dreams that keep us from having them. From believing they are a waste of time, to believing only a few can achieve them, we end up telling ourselves not to bother. Part of lacking vision in life is that we took the permission to dream away from ourselves. The beginning of improving our quality of life and achieving fulfillment is giving ourselves this permission back. It is only ours to give. Here are a few questions to ask to allow you to move forward and dream:
- What are the cultural views of dreams, dreaming, pursuing ones dreams?
- What are your beliefs about dreams, dreaming and pursuing your dreams?
- Looking back in your life, what do you see when you look at the times you could have dreamed, or you did dream. What were your behaviours, what did you do, what were the choices you made?
- What is the pattern you find when you look at all the times in your life you were faced with dreams, and pursuing them?
- What were the emotions and physical sensations you felt through these times?
- What were the thoughts going through your mind as you played out these behaviours and patterns?
- Where did you learn these beliefs and behaviours?
- As a child how did your parents react to dreaming? As you grew how did peers, role models and adults react to dreams?
Once you clear out the nonsense about dreaming you can begin to play with the canvas again. In the beginning dreaming can just be playful and fun. There is no reason to own any of your dreams at first. Eventually you will stumble upon a few that seem to stick and resonate.
Creating and Owning your Dreams
Eventually a direction and purpose will make itself known in the form of a dream and or vision that won’t go away. It is a vision that stays long term that creeps in every time you take a breath, or every time you stop and wonder what you want to do. It is something that gives you a thrill and perhaps even scares you. The hard part about this stage of dreaming is we don’t own the vision. We wonder what is practical; we wonder what we should do and how we should do it. We spin and go around and around all the while the vision is always there. "I really wish I could (Insert Dream Here,) but I don’t know what I want to do." Until we own the vision and realize that it is what we want to do, we will never be able to start walking towards it. When creating change you first need to be aware that the current situation, thing etc. is no longer working. Then you need something to move towards or you will find yourself running in circles away from but always around the outdated thing you are trying to change.
Once a dream is owned and we allow ourselves to admit that “yes, ok this is what I want,” then we can build the vision in detail. What the vision will feel like and look like; how it will create a ripple effect that is beneficial to ourselves, those around us and onwards. The more detail and depth we give the vision the clearer in our minds it will be. It can be easy to get lost in how it will come about; this is a pitfall we need to be aware of. If we envision one way that the dream will come about we lose the ability to see all the other potential ways. When a door opens we may miss it completely because we were staring at a different closed door. It is better to hold the vision of what we want but allow the path we take to get there to be open and unlimited. You never know what opportunities will present themselves and the innumerable ways of achieving a goal. If A. doesn’t work then there is always B. through infinity.
The Physical Steps to Create Reality
Once we create the vision, from a dream that we finally owned, we now begin the road of creating it in physical reality. This means taking small steps everyday to create momentum and motivation. There are so many pitfalls in this stage. So many beliefs around success and problem solving, life and the world that get in the way. Clarity and honesty along with self-examination and understanding/care will become the building blocks of this stage. Finding people that are safe to share with, that inspire and motivate and believe in you will also become very important. Stay away from dream killers; you know who they are in your life. In this stage it will become necessary to trust not just your head, but your emotions as well. We are emotionally driven beings and each emotion has vast amounts of information. They are also how a lot of us access our intuitive understanding. If we get an odd feeling about a certain opportunity it might mean we should take a step back and examine it because we are feeling something is wrong. Or if we feel afraid of something but at the same time excited it could just mean that it is a risky move and yet something that we feel called to do.
Speaking of fear it can also cloud our judgment. If there is real fear because something doesn’t feel right then that is one thing, but too often we can feel afraid of taking a risk and stop rather than following our hearts. We can also feel paralyzed if we get caught in how to create the entire vision all at once. How can we possibly foresee every step we need to take before the ultimate achievement of our vision; that is overwhelming. It is better to take it one step at a time while utilizing the final vision to create our choices. Learning all of these things will help you in walking your path.
Get Out There and Start Dreaming
Understanding and learning the art of change is a necessary part of our existence. When we master the art of change and utilize it while pursuing our dreams we become unstoppable. Each time we practice the above stages of dreaming, creating a vision and then making that vision a reality we get better at it. It can be hard to admit that none of us really know what we are doing. We hopefully know our values and ourselves, hold onto our visions then throw a stone and see where it lands. This is a part of the fear and the thrill of life. The Canvas is yours to paint, it is time you stop hiding the paint from yourself. Good luck Creating.
