When we think of dreams, usually they involve some rad nights sleep that we got the night before, and somehow we ended up in a circle, surrounded by these kids on their bicycles, threatening us.
A dream is defined as a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind.
But, to dream or to be a dreamer means to contemplate the possibility of doing something.
When we talk about dreaming, usually we're referring to something that came to life while we were sleeping. But is this always the case?
Nope.
I am trying to change the way that I think about the word dream. Rather than that word meaning two different things in my mind, I want to combine the two to consider dreaming as a verb - to do something, to dream.
I guess both are true, we can dream in our sleep - but do we dream, or is it just a recap of things that have happened in our lives that come to life while we sleep - de ja vu if you will.
Beyond our closed eyelids, we are cut off from the world that we know; and something happens. When we close our eyes to go to sleep, we are no longer in control of our thoughts.
Dreams can feel so real, sometimes it's hard to discern whether it really is... or not.
But - when we are awake; alive, that's when we turn a dream into a dream, or the act of being a dreamer.
What do you dream about?
You know, when I was young, I never had an issue dreaming about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But somehow, those thoughts are a distant memory now. I got caught up in getting decent (C student and proud of it) grades, going to college, graduating so I could get a good job.
Fell in love. Got married. Planned to wait on having kids for a few years, God had a different plan. Had a beautiful baby girl (Adelynn) one year after getting married (2014). Bought a house in the same month. Got fired from my job (Jan 2015). Unemployed for 6 months, came close to losing our house and our car. Started a new job (Jun 2015) in a new sector (private). Somehow I was still focused on looking for a job in the government, where I was comfortable, not focusing on doing my best work right where God placed me. Settled in at my new job (2016). Still no time to dream with a toddler walking around, getting into everything. Find out we’re pregnant again (2017). Yay! Have another beautiful baby girl (Emersyn) in October. Yay! Still no time to dream.
At this point, is it that I have no time to dream, or that I straight up forget to, or forgot how to.
I’m reading this book called “Quitter” by John Acuff, and he has inspired this post, and me in general. In the book he talks about focusing on your dream job whilst staying at your day job. He talks about being patient and allowing your day job to fund your dream job, so you can focus on it, and really perfect your craft.
Such a simple concept. But doesn't the world tell us that in order to start your dream job, you have to quit your day job? It tells us that somehow your day job hinders your ability to follow your dreams.
So in this stage of my life that I am entering, focusing on dreaming, relearning how to actually dream, I hold fast to that thought of being patient and allowing my dream job to become a reality, slowly, and in due time.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:14
Thanks for reading,
Strahl