My first professional blog entry
here's the link, (I didn't get to pick the title)
The transformative power of dreams has recently been made apparent to me, regrettably, as I have noticed the effect of the loss of our dreams on our society. As someone who has worked both in the mental health field and in various fights for social justice, I have begun to realize that many of the problems we face on both personal and societal levels stem from the fact we are losing our ability to truly dream.
This may seem like a dark path to take to discover how dreams can change your life, but one of the lessons given by the myths, legends, and other dreams passed within our culture is that to gain wisdom, one must face dragons, demons, and other manifestations of the frightening and uncomfortable.
The realization of our loss of our ability to dream came as I pondered current difficulties in the fight for social justice. Many campaigns these days are finding themselves opposed by impenetrable walls of resistance. Contrasting this to the movements once made decades earlier, I remembered the famous speech made at the height of the civil rights era, and recalled the power of the phrase "I have a Dream" repeated over and over by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In those four words, he did more than just make a logical case why people should be treated equally; he painted a picture of what a world of equality would look like. In his world, all men were brothers, where power was not being stolen from one to be given to another, but where there was a greater power found together. The problems being had by those seeking change today have come in part by a failure to create such a dream. Without the dream, there is no way to let the others know what the new world will look like, no way to guide people in the roles they will play in the new world, and no way to let them know why that world would be better. But today, those dreams do not seem to be there, and it is costing us dearly.
This loss of our ability to dream is evident in other areas of society where problems and struggle emerge. There is, for instance, a colloquialism that urban males in the most impoverished areas do not expect to live past the age of 18. In my work with this population, I have had occasion to ask and have had the colloquialism confirmed. These children on the street have no dreams of the future, for they feel there is no future to dream of. Without such dreams, is there any wonder why there are so many youths trading education and long term plans for the fast but dangerous rewards that could be had now? And on a more individual level, when working with clients, the lack of their dreams impacts their recovery. When discussing a case of severe trauma in a class, our professor lamented reaching a stuck point with her client. Having been robbed of everything, her client could see no end to her anguish. Instilling hope is crucial in recovery, and in pondering the lack of hope in her client, a step further was taken, and we realized she had no hope because she had no dream to have hope in.
In looking at the problems caused by the loss of our dreams, we can begin to see what the true power for change that our dreams can grant us. Dreams are more than simple material wishes for money, power, companionship, or other the other mundane things we are told we want. Instead, creating a dream creates a world we would like to live within. As such, our dreams give us a means to share our values and desires with others, encouraging them to join with us for its creation. And as people join together, the power of that dream grows, and with it the likelihood of it coming to fruition. Dreams create a direction, not just showing you what life has presented on the road ahead of you, but allowing you to decide what lies beyond the horizon. In doing so, your dreams help to also create a path to that new world. Finally, dreams fuel hope, for dreams give you something to hope for. This hope may be the most important component in making the changes you desire. For the greater the change you strive for, the greater the risk and threat of failure becomes. With every attempt at change there are moments of fear and doubt. As mentioned before, wisdom is traditionally won after facing frightening trials. Without hope, most people will retreat in the face of the difficulties. With hope, you have the strength to carry on.
Furthermore, in looking at our loss of our dreams, we can understand how we can use dreams to change very real problems in our life. Justice, equality, and other high ideals do not exist in a material sense, but are ideals brought about by those who have crafted dreams that enable them to share them with others. By dreaming again, we can bring others into the dreams that promote such ideals. Direction for an uncertain future is only possible if one feels such a future exists. As dream again about the future, we make decisions about what we want the future to be, and we make the plans and sacrifices that will get us there. Finally the power to dream is the power to dream of something better, and as we face hour darkest hours, learning to once again have and hold onto our dreams allow us to push through our struggles and bring us to the places we need to be.
The transformative power of dreams has recently been made apparent to me, regrettably, as I have noticed the effect of the loss of our dreams on our society. As someone who has worked both in the mental health field and in various fights for social justice, I have begun to realize that many of the problems we face on both personal and societal levels stem from the fact we are losing our ability to truly dream.
This may seem like a dark path to take to discover how dreams can change your life, but one of the lessons given by the myths, legends, and other dreams passed within our culture is that to gain wisdom, one must face dragons, demons, and other manifestations of the frightening and uncomfortable.
The realization of our loss of our ability to dream came as I pondered current difficulties in the fight for social justice. Many campaigns these days are finding themselves opposed by impenetrable walls of resistance. Contrasting this to the movements once made decades earlier, I remembered the famous speech made at the height of the civil rights era, and recalled the power of the phrase "I have a Dream" repeated over and over by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In those four words, he did more than just make a logical case why people should be treated equally; he painted a picture of what a world of equality would look like. In his world, all men were brothers, where power was not being stolen from one to be given to another, but where there was a greater power found together. The problems being had by those seeking change today have come in part by a failure to create such a dream. Without the dream, there is no way to let the others know what the new world will look like, no way to guide people in the roles they will play in the new world, and no way to let them know why that world would be better. But today, those dreams do not seem to be there, and it is costing us dearly.
This loss of our ability to dream is evident in other areas of society where problems and struggle emerge. There is, for instance, a colloquialism that urban males in the most impoverished areas do not expect to live past the age of 18. In my work with this population, I have had occasion to ask and have had the colloquialism confirmed. These children on the street have no dreams of the future, for they feel there is no future to dream of. Without such dreams, is there any wonder why there are so many youths trading education and long term plans for the fast but dangerous rewards that could be had now? And on a more individual level, when working with clients, the lack of their dreams impacts their recovery. When discussing a case of severe trauma in a class, our professor lamented reaching a stuck point with her client. Having been robbed of everything, her client could see no end to her anguish. Instilling hope is crucial in recovery, and in pondering the lack of hope in her client, a step further was taken, and we realized she had no hope because she had no dream to have hope in.
In looking at the problems caused by the loss of our dreams, we can begin to see what the true power for change that our dreams can grant us. Dreams are more than simple material wishes for money, power, companionship, or other the other mundane things we are told we want. Instead, creating a dream creates a world we would like to live within. As such, our dreams give us a means to share our values and desires with others, encouraging them to join with us for its creation. And as people join together, the power of that dream grows, and with it the likelihood of it coming to fruition. Dreams create a direction, not just showing you what life has presented on the road ahead of you, but allowing you to decide what lies beyond the horizon. In doing so, your dreams help to also create a path to that new world. Finally, dreams fuel hope, for dreams give you something to hope for. This hope may be the most important component in making the changes you desire. For the greater the change you strive for, the greater the risk and threat of failure becomes. With every attempt at change there are moments of fear and doubt. As mentioned before, wisdom is traditionally won after facing frightening trials. Without hope, most people will retreat in the face of the difficulties. With hope, you have the strength to carry on.
Furthermore, in looking at our loss of our dreams, we can understand how we can use dreams to change very real problems in our life. Justice, equality, and other high ideals do not exist in a material sense, but are ideals brought about by those who have crafted dreams that enable them to share them with others. By dreaming again, we can bring others into the dreams that promote such ideals. Direction for an uncertain future is only possible if one feels such a future exists. As dream again about the future, we make decisions about what we want the future to be, and we make the plans and sacrifices that will get us there. Finally the power to dream is the power to dream of something better, and as we face hour darkest hours, learning to once again have and hold onto our dreams allow us to push through our struggles and bring us to the places we need to be.