Dream on
That's how you change our reality
Yesterday I went to see one of my greatest inspirations' show. She's no Buddhist master, no enlightened writer, no human rights activist, no world savior, no modern day thought leader or self-care influencer. No. She's a wonderful actress who portrayed the dream I needed to survive my teenage years and early twenties: Being a thirty something year old, trying to understand life through her writing... while nurturing deep connections and looking for love and meaning in Manhattan. She was Carrie Bradshaw.
I spent hours of my life living in my beloved Manhattan through her eyes... and I felt safe, loved, excited… on the right path. Whether you believe in manifestation or not, we all know that it's easier to thrive for a future we can imagine, than to create a path we have no words or images to base on.
Ten years later, in a beautiful Broadway theater, I was in the same room as Sarah Jessica Parker. Her generous energy filled up the room, from her first step to the stage to the very last minute, when she knelt to get to see us just a little longer as the curtain was closing the night away.
And I came to see her from my own lovely New York apartment. And I'm writing, just like her character used to do, about what went on during my previous night, on my Mac, while drinking coffee the following day.
Nothing beats this feeling. This mixture of quiet joy, deep gratitude, grounding peace and elevating relief we feel when we let ourselves realize that one of our dearest dreams came true. That we are where we've always wanted to be. That the dream is not a dream anymore, it's our reality.
Can you relate? I couldn't always. It took me three decades to understand how to reconnect to this sacred place we all hold deep inside our inner realm. The place that some call the seat of the soul. This place where there is no fear left... only light. Where we can meet our intuition, our ability to love unconditionally, and to open our hearts to everyone, to everything... because it becomes suddenly obvious again how connected it all is, how connected we all are, how sacred, yes that's the word, it all is.
It took me three decades and a childhood of heartbreaks. Three decades and a ten years journey on the oncology ward. Three decades and more goodbyes that I thought one human heart could take. Three decades and amounts of emotional and physical pain I couldn't understand how any god would ever let us withstand. It took everything I thought I believed in, until I could finally open my eyes and understand. Until I found my way back to God. Until I found my way back to myself.
It feels to most of us that the world will hit us until we break. And it is true. But I've learned that it doesn't mean what I thought it did for those three decades: The world is here to break us, yes, but not in an attempt to destroy us! The world is here to break us open. What so many calls “To awaken”, or as Eckhart Tolle puts it "the world is not here to make us happy, it’s here to make us conscious". Conscious of who we really are. Of what truly matters. Of our vulnerability, our sense of humility, our part to play on this earth, our bottomless well of compassion... Our humanity. Our strength.
We're trained to believe in wars and armors to protect us. We're taught to build fences that will shield us from others and their evil pursuits. We're taught to distrust, to defend; never understanding that defense is the root of any attack. We're taught to create fear, in ourselves, for others. We forget how thoroughly we can love, how holistically we can heal. Heal ourselves, heal others, through ourselves, through others, for ourselves and for others. We get so scared in the darkness and spend all the energy we have to run away from it, never remembering that this energy could be turned into light… if only we could stand still for a minute. We hurt those we love most, afraid that they will hurt us if we don't. We close our hearts, our eyes and our minds... and then we wonder why we feel so small, so alone, so stuck.
So today, I dare you to take a few minutes to visit this faraway land you hold just below the heavy barricades we all build unconsciously around our source of power. The barricades we were modeled to erect and took on because we were told that it was the right thing to do.
None of this is our fault. None of it is anyone's fault. We're all just convinced that we're both robust and powerless. So it makes sense to learn how to depend on concrete walls! We believe in stones; they feel familiar, solid, and we think we need to be surrounded by them.
Yet in truth, we're all so fragile... but all so powerful. We're soft and tender creatures who need constant intentional care. That is the truth we need to stop wasting our precious time denying. For our own sake. And for the sake of those we care so very deeply about. And for the sake of all living things. For the sake of the world we live in.
AND we're strong and fierce creatures who can light up this world with the vastness, depth and awe-inspiring fountain of love that lies in our hearts. Love is not our weakness. Love is our strength. And in our search of a way back to Love, we were sent dreams to guide us back.
So get closer to your dreams, my friend. Do not judge them or dismiss them thinking they will only benefit you, and should therefore be set aside. First because if they benefit you, they’re already invaluable. Second because they were meant for you and will not harm anyone! Yet they will reunite you and by doing so, get you to this place where you're meant to shine… and by shining, help everyone.
Follow your dreams; they're how you follow your loves... they're how you find your way back to Love. They're how you get to, then, truly love us and love us back to ourselves. They're how you awaken to your true power and how you lead us to do the same. How you give us permission to enlighten ourselves. To dream. To love. To shine. To heal. And to dream even more.