Dream is a multi-faceted word that takes us from sleeping to the most wide awake knowledge of ourselves and our purpose here on earth- what are our deepest longings? These are our dreams, the things we might pursue if only… If only we had the time, or the resources, or the support. Or the belief that our dreams could reach fulfillment, become our every day reality.
And then time goes by and we realize we need to be about our dreams, before the time is past.
The word DREAM, cut from wood, sits above the kitchen cabinets, a reminder. I need reminders. Lots of them. A pewter pin I sometimes wear reminds me to “Dream Big.”
I have this dream of writing, writing as my job, as my my past time, as my priority after the people in my life, but it keeps getting bumped by other things. Right now it is the kitchen cabinets.
I thought I was going to write about the cabinets, what a big job they are — the stripping, cleaning, sanding, conditioning, staining, re-sanding, sealing, and more sanding, more sealing. The mess, the upheaval, but also the fun of having our youngest son come over and work with me, getting teriyaki take-out together, my hub drawing along side to help, taking up my slack with all the other details of family life.
But it is the dream that I really want to write about, how I allow projects like this to distract me from my dreams. How can they not?
This morning I am up early, with the idea that I will write before everyone else is up, a practice I claim for periods of time when I am actively believing in my calling. I will write while it is early and I am still in a dream state. The best book I’ve found on organically structuring writing is From Where You Dream by Robert Olen Butler: www.robertolenbutler.com/writings/non-fiction/from-where-you-dream/.
I have a routine of stretching and lemon water, then coffee, Bible, Yoga. Somehow, even though I am up early, most of my writing is just a few jots, or maybe even a few pages in my journals, often about my current distraction- the tree that needs to be removed in the back yard, the lack of disclosure on the part of the seller of the house we recently bought, or a damaged relationship with someone I love.
Moving is an upheaval, but it moves us closer to our dreams; it somehow puts us back in touch with aligning our lives with our deeper purpose.
Time to put a coat of polyurethane on the front side of my upper cabinet doors, after Yoga. But I did write, and that’s progress. I’m not looking for perfection, just progress.
How about you? Are you progressing toward your dreams?
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