Dreams help to provide a life of purpose

Guest Commentary:

It’s fun to dream of adventures and traveling to imagine exploring exotic lands like Bora Bora or India.

It’s also exciting to fantasize about being wildly successful professionally, or living in the perfect home on the most perfect beach with the most perfect climate all year round.

Dreaming is not only fun, it’s necessary.

Dreaming is like planting a seed in the soil in the early spring and nurturing it for a few weeks until the first sprout pokes through. We plant seeds by allowing our imagination to run free. By envisioning ourselves in faraway places or in seemingly unattainable situations. It’s how we get the ball rolling, so to speak.

Dreams are gateways to the field of infinite possibilities that can occur in one’s life. They embody our desires and reveal the depth of our creativity, passions and aspirations. As we water and nurture the seeds of our dreams, our capacity to bring our dreams to life becomes stronger and our wills rise to the occasion and make big things happen. Things like starting a business, spending a glorious month at the beach with someone we love or writing a memoir.

None of these things would come to pass, if first a seed was not planted, a dream not glimpsed.

Two and a half years ago, my partner Grant and I unknowingly planted a seed on the drive up to Seattle for a brewers dinner/conference. At the time, we had only been together for a little while, and he somewhat impulsively applied for a job in Libby just a few weeks prior. With nothing much going on, as we drove up the I5 corridor towards Seattle for a few hours, we talked about how our lives would change if he had actually gotten the job.

We fantasized about a cabin in the woods and a ski hill in our backyard. Why not? We imagined the trips we would take all over the state, exploring with one another and our future dog, “Chowder.” We dreamed up a business that provided services capable of changing lives and envisioned a foundation that supported others who didn’t have the resources we’d both been given. We wanted to change things and we wanted to help.

At first, we skirted around the issue of whether we’d realize these dreams alone or together, but by the end of dreaming out loud together, we had agreed that if we moved to this unknown faraway place, we’d realize our dreams together.

The seed had been planted.

We did not move immediately, nor did we get a dog right away, but on that day, unbeknownst to us, we had planted a seed to be watered and nurtured. We’d both decided that we’d like to stay together, and in that moment on that drive up to Seattle, our relationship had shifted.

And guess what? We are still together. Over the years, with lots of sunshine and water and a few cloudy days too, our seed has grown into a mighty oak.

I’ve recently started a dream journal. Sometimes I add to it if I am feeling inspired. It is a list of my seeds, a collection of my dreams.

Some of my dreams are outrageous. Some dreams are simple. At times, it is challenging to continue to dream of realities that feel impossible to create. But I have learned that to stop dreaming, means to let go of living with intention and reality turns dull. My “dreaming practice” helps me focus my energy on what it is I want to create in my life. I read my list of dreams a few times a week to reinforce the life I want to live. I envision some of the seeds growing into a mighty oak, just as my relationship has.

Some of my dreams are more powerful than others. Some are bold dreams, but ones I know could maybe someday be possible. I also recognize, however, that I’m not going to get there by accident. Having these on my dream list keeps me accountable. I ask myself every week: Are you setting yourself up for success? Are you doing all you can to make your one-on-one interview a reality?

From this careful reflection, I reignite my dream and take the next steps required to making my dream a reality.

I know that not all of the seedlings are going to sprout, but I keep watering them until I decide not to.

I love this new “dreaming practice,” it keeps me happy and hopeful. It opens the door to manifesting. It sends signals out into the vast field of possibility.

If I don’t plant seeds, I’ll live my life by chance.

I want to live my life on purpose and I believe that planting seeds is a great place to start.

Why not plant some seeds today?

Give yourself permission to dream wildly.

What are your dreams? Write them down.

Someone or something incredible might just be waiting for you to do so.

Danielle Spillman is a local certified yoga teacher, health enthusiast, and writer. You can find more of her musings at www.findyourlightyoga.com.