A Few Thoughts on Dreaming
(smelling noises) ahhhhh. You smell that? That right there is the smell of a brand new year. Welcome to 2024.
This is a time of year that I love to vision about what could be over the next 12 months. I get energized by feeling into all the possibilities that exist for myself, the world and the people I care deeply about. In other words, this is a time where I love to dream. What do I want to experience this year? What kind of opportunities do I want to come my way? What kind of change do I want to see in the world? What kind of people do I want to meet and connect with?
Dreaming, which I would define in this context as using one’s imaginative capacities to envision the most exciting and fulfilling reality, is a skill that has been atrophied by our modern world (which is a discussion for another day). To allow your highest visions to live in your heart is counter-cultural. It requires courage, creativity and a willingness to stay true to oneself. We’re conditioned to keep ourselves small and to keep our dreaming contained. Dreaming is liberatory. It asks us to shed the restraints of conditioning and move beyond the urge to stay small. To acknowledge our immensity through dreaming is a radical act of self-love. It’s a profound seeing of oneself. And I believe that it is the single most important skill for humans to reclaim as we collectively create new emergent futures.
Dreaming has been a wonderful teacher on my path. It’s helped me understand on a deeper level what it means to be human. It’s helped me learn to be more alive and connected to all the different parts that make up Trace. I’m grateful for all of the invitations this sacred act has presented to me.
Through my own experience, here are a few invitations I believe dreaming presents
1) Dreaming asks a level of radical honesty with ourselves
In my experience there have been certain dreams and visions I held that felt too big. Who am I to think I could do this? Is this egotistical or arrogant to think I could do this or experience this? This voice of fear (and need to stay small) prevented me from being honest with myself. When I started to fully own the size of my visions I felt a new level of honesty with myself that was liberating. When you let yourself dream the most expansive and energizing dream you have you are being honest with yourself that that is what you want. Let yourself vision the highest vision you have for your life with no qualms or hesitation and see how it feels in your body. Dreaming is a way for your immensity and bigness to be seen and validated. You’re being honest with yourself that this is who you are.
2) Dreaming asks us to love the parts of ourselves that have been disappointed, hurt, betrayed and let down
We’ve all had dreams that didn’t pan out the way we hoped they would. The deeper the pain of these disappointments the stronger the voice is in us that tries to prevent us from dreaming again. Rather than trying to ignore or overpower this voice that comes from a real wound, the invitation is to give love to the parts of us that have been hurt. Dreaming asks us to love all parts of us: the small, wounded parts of us and the big, expansive parts. When we open space in the heart this way it allows for a deeper level of creativity. To have been hurt and let down but still choose to dream fully is saying a profound yes to the fullness of life.
3) Dreaming invites us into deeper self care and nervous system regulation
My self-care has directly impacted my ability to vision possible realities for myself. When my nervous system is in a sympathetic (fight or flight) state it’s impossible for me dream. When my nervous system is in the parasympathetic state (feeling calm and grounded) I’m open to the field of possibilities and all that could be. Learning how to calm and regulate the nervous system is a crucial aspect of creativity. Mindfulness, meditation, tapping and breathwork are just a few examples of tools that can help. Network Spinal has completely changed my life because of the way it has shifted the way my nervous system interfaces with reality. You have to play around and find what works for you. What would it look like to care for and nurture yourself so that theres room in your body for your highest visions?
4) Dreaming asks us to reclaim our inner child
Children embody creativity and they dream with ease. It hasn’t been conditioned out of them. We all have an inner child that can dream effortlessly and loves being in the energy of what’s possible. Dreaming is an invitation to get to know this inner child more and let its exuberance shine through more in our lives. What does this inner child have to tell you? How can you get to know this inner child more? What does it feel like to live and vision with the eyes of your inner child?
5) Dreaming invites us to find and create spaces where we can dream together
It’s healing to dream with others. Dreaming is a collective experience as much as it is an individual one. It’s important to find spaces where we can connect and be creative with others. We need spaces where our visions, ideas and insights are encouraged and validated. Thats one of the reasons I’ve loved sharing space with people in my free online community and why I’m focused on creating more of these kind of spaces.
I’m feeling immense gratitude for another year on this beautiful planet. Here’s to a 2024 filled with abundance, connection and emergence.
Much Love,
Trace