A Million Dreams

I woke up this morning, just before dawn, from the most amazing dream. It was the type that stays with me, makes me smile and causes deeper reflection. My Morning Pages were devoted to exploring my thoughts around the dream, through writing.

Coupled with the vivid dream I had is the fact that the song A Million Dreams, from The Greatest Showman film, has been on repeat in my brain for at least a week. I wake up singing it, I belt out the chorus while in the shower, I break into spontaneous song with those lyrics multiple times a day.

There is a connection.

A Million Dreams

In the dream, I was in Africa. A family consisting of a dad, mom and seven year old daughter had asked me to accompany them on this trip. The opportunity came out of the blue. I didn’t know this family, yet I said yes. I was going along to help out with the little girl, who was delightful, while her parents took care of some business.

We were bicycling down a dusty road, toward a small community of simply built houses. The air was shimmering with golden heat. And a herd of zebras was running alongside the road. I laughed from the sheer pleasure of the magical experience. When we arrived at the house we were staying in, I realized that I had left on this trip so quickly that I had not told my family where I was. I began sending text messages to my kids and my sisters and my mom, marveling that I was here in Africa and enjoying these beautiful experiences.

A Million Dreams

This is the part of the dream that I loved. In the messages I was sending, I explained how I had been open to more travel opportunities and had released expectations, trusting the Divine to provide…and then this grab-your-passport-let’s-go invitation arrived. I felt such joy, such gratitude, which was perhaps more significant than anything else in the dream.

Do you know what woke me up, pulling me out of that gorgeous dream? My practical brain inserted itself as I hit “send” on the group messages. I realized with a pang that I had not notified my cell phone provider that I was leaving the country!

I appreciate that my dreams seem to indicate how my life is shifting and changing, from my heart and soul outward. As I learn and grow, my vivid dreams reflect that. I realized this truth a few years ago when the nightmares I had had all my life began to change. As I faced my fears and embraced myself completely, I took control of my night terrors, saying “No!” or “Stop!” during the dreams. And the scary stuff did stop. I quit having nightmares completely.

A Million Dreams

Instead, tracking slightly ahead of reality, I began to dream of wonderful adventures, abundance, writing, and more recently, of travel. I am shifting, I am reaching out, I am handing all my hopes and dreams over to the Divine, to the Dream Giver, and my dreams are exploding outward into the manifestations of those heart desires.

My dream last night shows me I’m in an excellent place in my life journey. I am open to receive, without making demands or setting up expectations. The words from The Greatest Showman’s A Million Dreams came to mind, as I wrote about the dream.

I close my eyes and I can see/ The world that’s waiting up for me/ That I call my own./ Through the dark, through the door/ Through where no one’s gone before/ But it feels like home.

They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy/ They can say, they can say I’ve lost my mind./ I don’t care, I don’t care, so call me crazy./ We can live in a world that we design.

Cause every night I lie in bed/ The brightest colors fill my head/ A million dreams are keeping me awake./ I think of what the world could be/ A vision of the one I see/ A million dreams is all it’s gonna take/ A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.

A Million Dreams

That song represents my life, from earliest childhood until now. To combat the fears I had as a child, I learned to create vivid dreams in my mind, to escape into. Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head. That was true as a child and still true as an adult. I created with the brightest lights and colors that I could conjure. I totally understand the thinking of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see part of the song. I create a vision, in my heart and mind. And amazingly, that dream often becomes reality.

I am grateful for my ability to cast visions and create worlds. I appreciate that my dreams give me a glimpse into my deepest heart and that my subconscious provides this feedback about where I am on my journey. I am ever changing, ever growing, and my dreams show me I am on the right path.

I’m excited that I am dreaming about traveling. I know that means that travel is going to be a key part of my near future. I don’t think it’s going to take a million dreams for the world I’m gonna make to appear. But if it does, that’s okay. I’ll keep dreaming…of the world I see when I close my eyes…and of the world I see when I’m dreaming with my eyes wide open.

A Million Dreams

The Question

As much as I enjoyed being a travel blogger for a couple of weeks, I am excited to return to being guided daily by inspiration and being wide open to creativity. As I fell asleep last night, I wondered what creative opportunity would present itself today…what invitation would come. 

Inspiration did arrive, in a totally unexpected way. 

The Question

I am a lucid dreamer, one who is very aware during the dream state and who recognizes the symbolism inherent in the mind movies the subconscious creates. Often my most meaningful dreams occur in the early morning hours just before I become fully alert. 

Such was the case this morning. 

I was leading an art workshop. We were drawing, coloring, creating collages and models around a travel theme, using a variety of mediums and techniques. I enjoyed the class very much, feeling energized and enriched by our collective creativity. 

As I was loading my car after class, a colleague, another realtor named Brenda Murray, approached me. She was not present in the class. And yet she knew what I had been teaching. 

She asked me, “Is this what you want to do?”

“Offer creatively?” I asked in return. “Yes! I want to write and draw and travel and create and help others live well and enjoy life.” 

“And what will you gain from living this way?” Brenda asked. 

I smiled. “Joy, freedom, opportunities to fully express my creativity in all the ways it can be manifested!” I felt incredible happiness as I gave my answer. 

I awoke from the dream at that point. Outside the darkness was just beginning to give over to morning light. I felt that surge of joy still from the dream…and the sting of tears in my eyes. 

The Question
Lying there quietly in the shifting light, I unpacked the dream. It was no surprise that I was teaching a class…I’ve taught many over the years…or that it was an art workshop with a travel theme. Easy enough to see where my subconscious pulled those elements from. 

What intrigued me was what happened after the class. A realtor approached me to ask a crucial question. Is this what you want to do? In my dream the face belonged to a friend of mine. But it wasn’t really Brenda asking the question. In my dreams, every person is me, playing out a crucial role that helps me to see something about myself, something that is often hidden from my conscious mind. 

My realtor self was asking an important question…is this what you want to do? Do you want to live more out of your creative self? My creative self didn’t hesitate with an answer. Yes! Yes I do. 

This Year of Inspiration is all about freeing my inner artist and living a more creative life and about making life a little more tender. The dream allowed me to affirm the direction my journey is taking. And it came at the perfect time. 

Invitations to offer creatively are arriving, as opportunities to submit stories and essays and photography. If I wondered, at some deep level, whether to accept these Divine invites, the dream gave me permission to say yes. Actually, I gave myself permission, through the dream, to say yes. 

I won’t be walking away from real estate yet. However, I will remain open to the opportunities and inspirations that come. I will be saying yes more and more. 

Since returning from Italy, I have been going to bed very early and waking up extremely early, as my body tries to adjust to a different time zone. This morning I saw the early awakening, with the dream’s lingering message, as another invitation. 

Bringing my laptop, writing notebook and a cup of lemon water into my bedroom, I set up a makeshift studio. For the first time ever, rather than free writing or journaling, or turning over to go back to sleep, I instead began working on a couple of submissions for creative writing projects that have found me. 

It was a great start to a promising day. 

The Question