E-couragement: Dreamcatcher
“It's déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra.
I’ve been here before was the thought streaming through my head as we drove back from the Italian Consulate in Charlotte. It was four years ago when my 16-year-old daughter Taylor boarded a flight to spend six months as an exchange student in Chile. Today we’d completed the visa application for my now 20-year-old college student to study abroad in Italy for four months. Recalling how her first journey had been a teacher for me, I was open to what new learning might come my way this time around.
The fact that Taylor had turned another dream of studying abroad into reality got me thinking about the power of our dreams. The picture of a Native American dreamcatcher came to mind. The belief is that nightmares pass through the holes of a dreamcatcher while good dreams become trapped in the web and slide down the feathers into the sleeping person. Then it became clear to me…we are all dreamcatchers.
Yes, you are a bona fide dreamcatcher. You have all the power necessary to turn your dreams into reality. No external apparatus needed. We come into this world knowing the importance of dreams and innately understand how to transform them into reality. Somehow, along the path to adulthood, things change. We begin to believe phrases like “quit day dreaming and get some work done.” We make agreements with ideology that tell us dreams are nothing more than fairytales and child’s play. Ultimately we discard our dreams in order to grow up and get a stable job with benefits.
Reconnecting with the power of your dreams can help you live a more engaging life. Here are a few simple steps to help regain your ability to be a dreamcatcher:
- Get a permission slip: Remember the power of a permission slip in grade school? With it you could go on field trips or even skip a class. It was your ticket to freedom. Since you’re all grown up, write your own permission slip to dream again. Give yourself authority to be still, get quiet, and allow your dreams to resurface. Begin by asking yourself about the person you’re intended to be, the work you’re destined to create, or the places you’ve imagined visiting.
- Write it down: Once you recall those packed away dreams, begin to write them in a journal. Journaling is a powerful tool. There’s a Chinese proverb that states the “weakest ink is greater than the strongest memory.” You’ll add power to your dreams and visions when you record them on paper.
- Take a small step: Determine what small action you can take to move closer to fulfilling your dream. What one step can you take in the next seven days? Should you research something? Talk with an expert? Order a book? Update your resume? Decide what you can do now, and do that very thing.
Thinking back on Taylor’s ability to turn dreams into reality I can see how she’s followed these steps. I heard her declare years ago, “Dad, I’m going to study abroad in Italy my senior year in college!” I witnessed her write that dream down and even cut out inspiring photos of her destination. I watched her take small steps over time that finally led us to a consulate’s office to apply for her visa. She gets it. She’s a dreamcatcher. So are you. It’s time to reclaim your dreams all over again. Are you ready?
Leave your comments: What dream are you ready to reclaim? What will be your first step to realizing it?