Dream your life and live your dreams.
February 18th, 2020, Nevada City, CA
Wrapped up in a story I’m sharing here a piece of advice to myself and everyone who needs the courage to follow their dreams, any dream, career, personal life, social, family, etc…We all can live our dreams!
How does a man who sees his future wife in a dream go on with his life?
A few years ago, I picked up a book in a coffee shop, opened it randomly and started to read in the middle of the page. I love doing that! When you do that enough, you’re constantly creating your own story based on many different small ones. The pieces of the story you compose come from many places. It’s incredible you become the living storyteller and hero of your own story, bringing to life all the places you ever went to, a friend’s house, a coffee shop, a library, a restaurant, a hostel and so on. All the time, chapter after chapter, page after page, places after places you’re creating a story. I particularly like it when my memory brings me suddenly with wonderful synchronicity, parts that I had forgotten. It feels like pure magic.
It happened to me today. I got projected back to the summer of 2018. I was visiting a very charming town in northern California while driving back from the Redwood forest. The town, famous for being scenic, attracts many photographers in search of the perfect place and moment to capture. My friend liked photography and had the town on her radar, so we decided to stop by. We walked around town, took some pictures and stopped in a very cute coffee shop to recharge. Hmm… I can still smell the delicious roasted coffee, I still can feel the unique vibe, the warmth, the friendly staff, the beautiful design, and the bookshelf. What a delight! I love books and as I said earlier I love to pick up random books in such places and collect a piece of the story. One book particularly attracted me. I forgot its name and its author, but I do remember clearly picking it up and starting to read a question that stayed with me for a while:
How does a man who sees his future wife in a dream, go on with his life?
The author was asking us to think about that. A young man has a dream and in it, he has a clear vision of his future wife. He doesn’t know where she is, but he knows from that vision what she looks like. How does he go on with his life? Does he stop everything and start to look for her? What if the vision isn’t true, does he take chances anyway? If he waits for her to manifest what does he do in the meantime? What would you do? Is it parallel to the idea of a soulmate? Is there a dimension in which souls exist and know each other, perhaps are attached to one another? What if in that dimension we know our partner, but we forget when we come to this world. Are we on a journey to find each other? Many possibilities, many ways to think about this question. (This is a fabulous aspect of good questions; they open us up to exploration, to curiosity and we stay with the questions for as long as possible adding layers of answers, constantly finding deeper ways to address it.)
So today that question popped into my head with a twist to it: How does a person who has a clear vision of its future is supposed to go on with his life? See, I had a very intense dream experience. As I was trying to make sense of it, the question came back to me. It is confusing to know the destination but not the path to get there, therefore I want to share my lessons.
Last Sunday I had a dream, a vision. It was so clear, so perfect, so tangible. I call it a vision but really, I should say I had a full experience which manifested also as a vision.
In my dream-experience, my girlfriend and I were sitting on the floor of our friend’s room. Her room is warm, cozy, peaceful, and beautifully designed. We were chilling and the conversation was flowing. My friend proposed to lead a guided meditation and to play some music. We were on board, so we sat back, relax, and were getting ready to enjoy the ride. Suddenly, my body started to disintegrate and became one with the music. My body was a series of waves that were revolving around my plexus which wasn’t part of my body. It was an external focal point. (“solar plexus chakra”?). It felt like my body was a tornado revolving around my plexus and gaining an increasing amount of energy. The sensation of becoming this energy was extremely powerful, I couldn’t resist it, so I was just letting myself become this tornado. After a few moments of that sensation which seemed to be a pure energetic connection, the tornado stopped and my body got back to its form. I wake up from the meditation (I’m still in the dream-experience), look around, and everything is the same. The room, the music, my girlfriend and my friend, all the same, except that everything looks more real than reality, more beautiful. Everything seems to be enveloped by love. As if love was a liquid that was sprayed on everything and made everything looks shinier, with more depth and more layers. It all seemed to have been always there like you were entering a painting and were becoming part of it. (Was it an experience of unconditional love and the present moment? To the best of my experience, yes this is what it was).
So, I look and look again and all I can see is love and two beautiful goddesses in this magical room which feel like home. I belong here and I always belonged here, I just forgot. My mind starts to try and make sense of this sensation. The scenario that comes to mind as the most logical is that I was brought here by my girlfriend and her friend to help me reconnect to my true self and show me my true path and desire. They brought me home. I’m in a transition period, looking for what’s next, where to live, what to do. These two angels guided me here to show me where I belong. I make this assessment in my mind and tell myself this is it. I have been looking for almost 40 years for myself, and this was it, the answer. This was incredible, beautiful beyond words. At this point, I felt in my dream my parents walking toward the room and coming to celebrate with me. I thought that they all made me a beautiful surprise, they had my parents fly from overseas to congratulate me on my new life and give me their blessings on starting a home here in northern California. It was so pure, so true. I was crying and laughing! I felt so empowered, so enlightened and ready to embrace my new life, with purpose. I felt like a king in heaven with two goddesses’, angels by my side ready to embark together on our journey. Ready to live my full potential. I got up as if I was ready to march on and conquer my destiny and then, …, I woke up!
Wow! What just happened? I was perplexed but profoundly touched and happy. This dream-experience is too vivid for me not to try to make sense of it and learn from it. So “Gestalt dream” style I take this as an existential message that I sent to myself. A message that has elements for me to learn and grow from. A gift of having a vision of truth and my true path.
OK, so I take it as a vision. What now?
(BTW every time I say, “what now?”, I’m thinking about the dialog between Butch and Marsellus Wallas in the movie Pulp Fiction by Tarantino. The scene is amazing, and it symbolizes a reset, a new dawn, a fresh start that followed some traumatic experiences).
What now?
Now starts the process of bringing this experience to life. Since I take this as a learning experience that my subconscious is teaching me, I need to learn and implement the message. The process is important and is true for any message/ experience one wants to bring to his life. It can be applied for a dream job, a dream relationship, a true desire to accomplish anything like climbing a mountain or quitting smoking. Once you master the technique and process you can “dream your life and live your dreams”! I remember a post hanging on the wall of my sister’s room during the years she was working hard to get through medical school. It was saying “live your dreams instead of dreaming your life”. I say: “Dream your life, bring your dreams to life so you can live your dreams”. That’s the name of my game and if you are an ambitious dreamer, I bet it is yours as well! Now that you had a vision, it is your mission to bring it to life.
When you experience clearly what you’re supposed to be doing, what your true desire for your future self is, the experience needs to be processed through the filter of a method to bring it to action. It’s a process! Here’s the process is simplified so it can be used as a framework to expand on without getting to complex.
Step 1: Breakdown the experience into small pieces that you can process. You don’t want to overload yourself. (The experience can be composed of sensations, feelings, thoughts, words, silences, etc… break it down any way you want.)
Step 2: Think about the idea that the experience is trying to teach you. This is the vision. (Vision not as what the eyes see, but as the idea your mind grasp).
Step 3: Articulate the vision with clear words so it makes sense and it can be understood by everyone. It has to be simple.
Step 4: Bring the vision to your heart. That means you need to emotionally agree that this is your true desire. You accept it as your mission. (You may see that you need to quit your job in order to express your full potential in a different company, but it doesn’t mean that you currently want to. You like your job, the people you work with and it’s going to be hard to accept emotionally that you need to do that. If you believe in your vision, take it as your mission to make it happen).
Step 5: Find the emotional courage to fulfill your mission. You need a full emotional agreement.
Step 6: You’re fully on board. Understand that you’re about to step into the unknown, make a plan and find the emotional motivation within yourself to embark on the journey.
Step 7: Prepare the foundation and the structure that is needed to support yourself in achieving your dreams. (For example, if you know you need to quit your job to start your own business, it’s better to have a plan to save some money or have some sponsors ready to invest in you. You don’t want to find yourself suddenly without anything and basic needs to provide for.)
Step 8: Make a leap of faith and take action. You’re in full alignment: fully aligned: your experience and vision have been understood and clearly stated. You are emotionally ready to make it happen and you truly desire it. You are motivated, grounded and prepared. Now comes the time to jump and act on your plan.
Be prepared, there is a gap between each step and between reality and the idea. As you start to act nothing will work at first the way you envisioned. The steps are nonlinear and not always in order. Each step can take a very long time and a lot of effort. As you move from a step to another, you may experience, confidence, despair, sadness, joy and any other feelings, emotions and sensations, one after the other and all together. You may doubt each step and question back your vision. You may need to confront others and society, you may be exposed to judgment from yourself and the people you love. You may feel left alone with no one believing in you nor understanding your vision. It’s hard, but that’s the price you pay for standing out, for having the courage to truly think outside the box. It is scary, it is lonely for you are making your own path, a path that no one else prepared for you before. You’re one of the braves that decide to step out of the paved way, challenge the status quo and the norm. I’m sorry it’s going to be really hard! Congratulations, you start to live your dreams and not only dream your life! And you know that despite all the challenges, you will live your full potential and it worth it! You are living your own truth, there’s nothing like it!
As you step into the unknown, you need to remember to believe in yourself, believe in your dreams and trust the process. Remember it is an absolute privilege to be able to dream and have the potential to make your dreams come true. So, be grateful for every step of the way. Time and effort are needed, be patient and compassionate with yourself and others.
I was attending a talk two weeks ago from a very activist teacher. After his talk, someone in the audience asked what is the medicine and the secret to being able to do the work day after day? It is so hard! His answer was so straight and simple: joy. In everything you do, you must bring joy into it!
So, with gratitude, patience, joy, and love keep working to live your dreams!
When it feels overwhelming, the best thing to do is to take a small piece of the vision and work on it. It doesn’t matter where you are in relation to the steps. Sometimes, the action comes first, sometimes, analyzing with your mind comes first and sometimes understanding with your heart comes first! Just do what you can and keep it moving. It has to move. If you don’t move the dream becomes a fantasy at best and may even become a trauma that leads to blocking the pathways to action. When you are in movement though you are clearing the pathways even the ones that were shut from past traumas or crushed dreams!
For example, after my dream last Sunday, I worked on breathing and opening my plexus. This is the only thing I could do right away. I’m still processing my dream and it may take me months to fully digest it. But, since I had a strong feeling around my plexus being a source of connection to energy and power, I right away moved my meditation practice to focus on that area. For hours the following days, I brought my focus there while breathing. I stretched and opened my plexus as I was filling up my belly and lungs with as much air as I could, keeping it in for as long as I could. Incredibly enough, I did unlock a block that I had there. I now feel like I can breathe deeper than I ever breathed in my life. I always felt that the air was blocked in its trajectory between my stomach and lungs and that I couldn’t take deep enough breath. I was aware of this as a child already and even more so as an adult who smoked for 20 years. Well as of last week I am now able to fill myself up with air and breathe deeply for the first time in 30 years. It feels amazing! It feels more alive than ever! And that’s just a small piece of it. My dream vision is: you can live your dreams. My mission is to share for everyone to believe that they can live their dreams.
How does a man who sees his future wife in a dream go on with his life? With gratitude, patience, joy, and love, he works on himself to bring his dream to life.
Have a beautiful journey, my friend!
Photo by Jaime Handley on Unsplash
