Dreams As They Truly Are
Odette, in the surgical waiting room, ready to be admitted
I loved this comment from Jennifer on the All the Glitters Might Be Gold post. There’s so much wisdom here and so much truth, I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see it.
As someone in their late twenties who recently lived through an experience (in Africa) that deeply tested my idealism, I think it is a question we should be asking. Children get so many messages from different places. First it is “dream big–anything is possible”. Then in high school the subtle message is “don’t dream too big because then people might not like you–but make sure to accumulate money and prestige”. And then in the early twenties, “don’t dream too big because you’ll be disappointed and/or won’t be able to support yourself.”
And yet, it doesn’t seem like there are many people out there talking about dreams as they truly are–guides on our path to a future that is possible, but not sure, and that to pursue them is far more challenging and filled with uncertainty and fear (and aliveness and love) than the paths of least resistance that society often says we should take.
Perhaps the greatest threat to our dreams is what we do with them when they do not pan out (because inevitably they will not unfold exactly as we expect–there will be moments that feel like profound failure). Do we let our disappointment and sense of failure consume us, and transform our souls into a perpetually cynical half-aliveness, or do we accept the present situation as it is, open our hearts to the ways it can teach us, and let our dreams be reborn continuously from our souls as they are now?
Do you have the courage to let your dream be reborn? Can you let that dream be your teacher? I’m musing on this today, and hope you will too, dear soul.
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:38 am
i know i will be musing on those thoughts….
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 am
i’ll be musing on this today as well.
one of my biggest dreams has just come true, i’ve bene living it for a couple of weeks now and i never thought this would come with so many mixed feelings. but it is here and i’m very grateful for it. today i’m going to try and find the lessons that this dream is teaching me.
thanks for this jen.
-silvia
September 22nd, 2008 at 12:52 am
Ugh. That’s totally true for me. Do I have the courage to pursue my dreams? I feel like crying after reading that. Yes. I really want to.
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:03 am
I read Jennifer’s post a few days ago & am glad to see it repeated here today as it does contain so much truth & wisdom.
I was never encouraged to dream when I was young - life was a succession of “can’ts”. But I stubbornly pushed & pushed & made things happen in my life, and some dreams began to peek through. But many disappointments, that certainly felt like failures, soon crushed those fledgling dreams flat.
Sometimes when I hear people talking about “dream big -anything is possible!” I feel cynical & think - yeah, right, just you wait.
But, as time passes & I heal, long-forgotten dreams are pushing their way back into my concsiousness & some are even starting to become real.
I guess what I’m learning is we can’t always control what life throws at us but we can choose how we deal with it and, as Jennifer says, “accept the present situation as it is, open our hearts to the ways it can teach us, and let our dreams be reborn continuously from our souls as they are now”
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:53 am
Those are really excellent words. Thanks for posting this so we didn’t miss it…
September 22nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
I have been thinking about this since reading your “all that glitters” post the other day Jen (I have only recently discovered your blog and love it btw :))
I can think of so many times as a teenager that I was told to stop dreaming, things i knew in my heart I could achieve were just pushed aside by others as too adventageous.
Now I have children of my own I encourage them to dream big, dream huge and as a mother, everything i can do in my power to help their dreams come true will be done……. Where would we all be without dreams for the future? Stuck in the past? Dream big, dream beautiful I say, and ride through the journey of life with your heart and arms wide open
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:26 am
I’m struggling with that last paragraph - the acceptance and reworking of the dream that didn’t come through, or true as the case may be.
I totally want to know what happens next and I’m not very patient or calm about it right now…working on that this week.
September 22nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I’m thinking about this today too…
September 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I’ve been thinking about my dreams since your previous post. As I am now in my fourties, it’s not so much that I’ve abandoned my dreams, but life has taught me that I am not always meant to be in the driver’s seat. So what are these dreams we choose to pursue (or not)? I think they are expressions of who we see ourselves as being, and as the universe seems so insistent on telling me, there is more than one way to make that happen. Not to resign ourselves to whatever the current reality happens to be, but to work with who we are and who we can become in the circumstances we find ourselves in. Perhaps our dreams need to be examined, for the success is frequently not in the attainment of a goal, but in the journey of discovery along the way.
Musing on….
September 22nd, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I was never one to dream big for myself. Others were always doing it for me. I had small dreams. Many of them came true, many were not as I imagined they would be. The closer I get to 40, the more I allow myself to dream big. I feel freer, knowing that they chances my dreams might come true is real and that the way they manifest is the way they are supposed to be, and often times the way that is best for me. We don’t always know what is best for us, but if we allow our dreams to take us there, then the best for us will shine through in some guise of the dream.
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Again, your thoughts, musing, photos, quotes touch my soul. The universe sent me to you when I needed a teacher … thanks again for saying exactly what I need to hear, when I need to hear it.
Peace …
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 pm
this speaks to me on such a deep level.
thank you, jen.
xoxo
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Wow….this hit me hard tonight, in a good way. Thank you for reminding me of what the original question truly was, all those years ago, before it got diluted with the muck of everyday fear and disappointment.
September 23rd, 2008 at 8:57 am
i have been reading and re-reading this post so many times now… even sending it to friends… but when i went to comment, all the words drained from my finger tips… even now i hardly know where to start. so instead i’ll just say that this post means so much to me and speaks to me deeply, as i find the courage to move along my path with my dream as my guide. thank you for sharing jen.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
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