Staff Writer - Katrin Callender
We all feel proud and inspired when we hear the dream of Martin Luther King’s reiterated in the media or see evidence of parts of it being realized. And many of us similarly possess hopes and dreams for the future of our world; our countries; our loved ones or ourselves. If asked to offer some lofty ideas about how we would spend a million dollars if we had it, we could do this easily. It is the sort of thing that passes through our minds but is never given much attention- it seems too unlikely and few of us want to hope in such ‘long-shots’.
The sight of children visualizing futures when they possess job titles associated with power, fame and wealth is always a fascinating one. It seems shocking that they should aspire to these positions before much of their training has gotten underway. Yet they do not let the absence of education in the field or any other supposed limitations interrupt their vision of their future. Some of these dreams fade over the years. This fear of forgetting one’s ideas before achieving them must motivate action. If we write these ideas down we are well poised to pursue them, as we may more easily be able to map out a path to seeing these dreams come to fruition.
More than just taking note of our dreams to avoid forgetting them, we want to write them down because the written word has always felt ‘real’. It does seem transient like the spoken word, which often slips our mind. It has been suggested by Oprah that writing our ideas down makes us a bit more accountable- we are more likely to push ourselves to accomplish them. Unlike past generations, our world is media saturated and the spoken word may be captured and stored for future use. This is excellent for two reasons. The first is that the spoken word becomes more real for us as we have a record of it. The second, closely related, is that we have yet another means to make a record of the things we want.
The power to dream...
We may document our vision for the upgrading of the services and facilities we use on a daily basis or outline the ways in which we may gain access to those we want access to. Or we may wish to describe in detail our ideal vacation destination or dream vehicle. We may even be vague about our plans and simply wish to jot down the few points we have worked through; a work in progress is still work. We should feel proud of the ideas that we have. They are a testament to our passion and ingenuity- two of the best qualities we as human beings possess.
