Channeling Dream Energy
As someone who is certifiably futuristic*, I love this time of year because it's full of dream energy. I am so into this idea of dream energy that it was the conceptual basis of a proposal to Beltline last year. I was rejected, but the beauty of being futuristic is you don’t care because there’s something else to look forward to, and even in a global pandemic, I still painted 11 murals last year, so I think it turned out alright.
Now, what do I mean by dream energy? It’s a place where you can imagine everything has gone right, that your wildest boldest ideas exceed and tap into the ecstasy of desire. I to underscore that part of dream energy is simply being open to not defining the future based on the past. They are connected in a timeline, yes, but since we live in a world where other people do and act independently of us, the future can be… wildly unpredictable.
How do we make this practical though? You let dreams inspire you in a few different ways:
Dream energy can get you energized to find ways to get started now with what you have available to you, if you are willing to let go of perfectionism.
Thinking this way leaves you open to the possibilities that may come you way, seeing them as a stairway to the bigger vision.
It also lets you see that something incredible could happen tomorrow, because tomorrow you could get that call from Oprah that would change what you have available to you.
Being able to imagine the future is what has propelled me in my career, and I think it's definitely my superpower, but I’ve had to learn how to set boundaries around this. On the flip side of dream energy is the stress fantasy, where you conjure up a stressful reality for yourself and imagine that it is an absolutely likely thing you need to deal with even though it hasn’t happened and doesn’t need to be dealt with.
Because when it comes to setting intentions, committing resolutions and exploring desire, I think you first have to be compassionate and honest with yourself. Self-criticism can get you far, but self-compassion will be a much better ride.
So I have some parting questions that you can use to explore dream energy.
“How would you act if you believed it would all work out?”
“What if you could make $10,000 tomorrow? What would you do if you believed that was available to you?”
“What do you want to thank my future self for? What can you thank your past self for?”
* Futuristic is my top strengths according to my Gallop CliftonStrengths profile, a