“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
-Muhammad Ali
Have you ever had the experience of sharing a dream with someone and had them laugh, mock you, tease you or tell you it was stupid? Of course you have! Our culture while touting that this is the land where dreams come true, only really appreciates certain dreams.
Dreams that involve making money. Dreams that promise to amass material objects, or dreams that fall in line with a well trodden path like higher education, corporate ladders and family life.
Are you doing what you love? Are you living your dreams? Can you answer with a bold YES? If not, are you in a process of discovering what your dreams are?
Around 7-10 years old is often the time many of us begin to curtail some of our creative play, many of us stop drawing because we are frustrated with our skills, or become aware of comparison or teasing from others.
The good news is, you can pick up any pass-time you used to enjoy, and it has been waiting for you patiently the whole time. Allowing yourself to draw, doodle, play with paint or collage, can free up your imagination and help create a safe place for your dreams to come out and play.
Dreams respond well to specific descriptions and become more real when you can name them. Focus brings specificity, but we also need to be willing to accept that things don’t always unfold exactly as we have ordered. Be open to twists and turns and that your dream may become way bigger than you ever could have imagined.
Just like creativity is not only given to a chosen few, everyone is meant to follow their dreams. Everyone has a right to following their dreams.
What’s your creative dream?
Do you have one?
Did you used to have one?
Maybe your dream is hidden deeply inside, afraid to come out for fear of ridicule or embarrassment. Creativity is shy, it won’t come out if you are scared or tense or stressed. It’s sensitive, it can tell when the audience is ready, if it’s safe. And I don’t blame it. The world is hazardous for dreams.
“People living their dreams are more joy-full and full of life”
- SARK
The important thing isn’t how quickly you can achieve your dreams, the important thing is that you HAVE them. Even if you don’t tell others, in fact you should only share your dreams with those who support them. Feeding and entertaining a dream will fill you with life. Just thinking about it will create energy, and the more you engage the more energy you will make.
And when you are entertaining your dreams, you give others the permission to live theirs. When you have more energy in your life, you are able to solve problems in new ways, envision new ways of doing things, and these are desperate times.
The ways we have been living are destroying our planet and its inhabitants. We need creative solutions now more than ever. We are asked to function at high speeds and produce more and more every day. BUT humans are adaptable, flexible, curious creatures.
Remembering Dreams
Take some time to ask yourself the following questions:
I’ve always wanted to…
I used to think I could…
If I really lived my dream, I might need to…
Did anything surprise you? Did you allow yourself to really dream, or did you hear voices in your head trying to keep them small?
Choose one of the words/phrases below, or make up one of your own.
Change
Advance
Grow
Do something different
Live in a new way
If I _______________________________, I might need to _____________________________________.”
Revise my thinking
Quit my job
Stop complaining
Figure out a new way
Change something
If you’re coming across negative or discouraging thoughts, that is good! Let them come out and let them be heard! These hidden thoughts tend to run the show. If you can get to the root of the voice (a parent, teacher, older sibling, etc.) you can start to separate it from YOUR true voice. The one that wants you to go big in this life.
If I lived my dream, I would be _________________________________________________________.”
Here are some thoughts you might have:
Expected to be happy all the time
Unable to keep struggling and complaining
So busy that I couldn’t stand it
Pressured to succeed
Challenged by the unknown
What are you doing instead of living your dreams?
Working
Sleeping
Eating
If you are already living your dream, would you like to dedicate more time or energy to it? What would that mean?
Time flows naturally to what is: visible, active, important, necessary
Can you make your dreams more visible, active, important, necessary?
Let’s take a trip back in time, when you were free to dream, or maybe you had to dream because your home-life was scary and you had no control. Answer from the viewpoint of your 7-10 year self:
Who was your best friend?
What was your favorite thing to eat?
Where was your favorite spot in the house?
Where was your favorite spot outside the house?
What did you dream about doing or being?
Were your dreams encouraged? Discouraged? How?
Did your parents or caregivers identify and speak of their dream? Can you recall what they were?
Did your parents or caregivers choices about their dreams influence your dream choices? How?
Are you supportive of your children’s dreams (your children or others)?
Are you supportive of your dreams? How?
Good news! You cannot choose the wrong dream. Think of this as a path with many steps, the most important thing is that you keep taking steps, and listen to your intuition as you move forward. Be focused but flexible.
Reply to this newsletter and tell me…
What is your dream?
*Adapted from SARK “Make your creative dreams real” (2004).
Artwork from Amplifier