Dreaming

According to Google, dreaming is defined as contemplating the possibility of doing something or that something might be the case

In a recent article, Kelly Robson, author of the book, Gods, Monsters, and Lucky Peach, wrote:

We create opportunities by imagining possibilities, both for ourselves personally, and for the world in general. I’m not saying we can conjure luck out of thin air, or that applying the power of imagination makes everything simple and easy. But there’s no denying the importance of imagination. The things we imagine fuel our intentions, help us establish behavior patterns that become self-perpetuating, and those patterns generate opportunities. — Kelly Robson The Future We Imagine Is the Future We Get March 2018 https://www.tor.com/2018/03/13/the-future-we-imagine-is-the-future-we-get/

When we’re little, we did this, not just on a daily basis, but almost hourly. I’m going to be a cowboy, and astronaut, a fairy, or a doctor. The list goes on and on. As we age, we get dragged down by the responsibilities of daily life and we forget. Of course, if didn’t help when we were told to get our heads out of the clouds and tend to “business”. For crying out loud, I was eight and “business” was attending to class. By the time we get to high school, we had forgotten how to dream. We may or may not have a plan, but not a dream. Don’t get me wrong, a plan is important, but a plan without a dream is like a ship without a rudder and a plan out of sync with a dream is just as messed up.

Remember when you were little, you could feel in your body what it felt like when you were flying among the clouds or riding that horse. The wind would whip past your face and you were the master of your dream. We need to get back to that sense of feeling what the future holds. We need to feel ourselves in the future we visualize.

Dreaming keeps us on course. That sensation we feel when we discover something we really want to do is like no other. Its that fear mixed with exhilaration that we felt when we’re flying through those clouds. Imagine thinking of your future with that same sensation.

Dreaming can take many forms. You can draw pictures, sculpture, make a list, or collage. The important thing is you feel it, connect to it. Then you can make a plan.

Now if you’re really serious you can do the following homework:

Over the next three days list all the things, experiences, or activities you’d like to do. Don’t judge. Don’t decide what is possible. Just write them down. They can be as fanciful or practical as you like. Simply give them attention. In this activity, anything is possible. Even unicorns.

I tell people to give this three days because we are in the midst of our own lives and it may take a couple of days to remember all the dreams we’ve been burying all these years. Right now, bring them out into the light and give them your attention.

At the end of the three days, sit down with them. Read through them one by one and check in with your body. Which ones make you giddy. Which ones make you scared. Which ones make you close up a little. By close up, I mean, “No, no, I can’t do that.”

The next step may be the most difficult. Divide them into groups of short term, medium term, and long term. Maybe you have that unicorn on your list. Many would say its not possible. To this, I would ask, “What does it represent to you?”

To me, a unicorn represents the universe abounds with magic and the unicorn is my connection to it. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Magic, really? My definition of magic is anything I don’t understand at the present moment. It doesn’t mean I’m incapable of understanding, it means, at the moment, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how the internet works but I use it. So, bring that unicorn into your life.  Put it on the short-term list.

The short-term list are things you’ve been putting off but have now decided there’s really nothing standing in your way. Short-term things are there to prove to us that we can have our dreams. Medium and long-term items are going to need set-up-either financially or logistically, research, education, or a change of thinking. Now you can begin to plan.