the importance of dreaming

have you ever thought of the importance of your dreams and the impact they have on your life? not just the impact they have on your choices, but on your well being, your soul, your happiness? i’ve been thinking about how dreaming affects us all and came to a sudden realization on how important it really is. think about it – the more you dream about the things you want in life, the more your brain and heart work to find ways to get to those dreams. the more you believe they could happen, the more likely they are to happen. but before i get ahead of myself, let’s take a step back.

dreaming, at it’s very core, is the thought process that we engage in when we hope for more, want something better, and believe that maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to taste something that could change our lives. dreaming starts at a young age, when we scheme and plan and talk about the things we want. as a child, dreaming isn’t so much of a far off thing as it is a reality that will eventually come true. some of us are told and taught that dreams can be reality and that we can do anything we want. we go to sleep dreaming about what we want the next day, or what we’d love to buy if our piggy banks were full. for me, it was ponies and riding attire galore. i was obsessed with the notion of riding horses, being with them, brushing them – anything with horses and i was there. not much has changed, of course. but in my 7 year old head, i would do anything to get closer to horses. i went to the extent of trying to invent an electronic horse that would allow me to sit on it and practice my riding skills. i didn’t have technical skills at the tender age of 7, but i did dream it. to me, anything was possible and my dreams were just thoughts that helped me get to where i was going.

but as with most things in childhood, dreams fade. other things take the place of dreams like anxieties, worries, and planning. our adolescent brains evolve into much more complex beings, ones that require careful and gentle handling, and that can be damaged in an instant. these tender brains and souls are often too preoccupied to remember to dream, and if they do, they’re often crushed with cruel or “realistic” teachers. as we become adults, we <hopefully> increase our confidence again and are more willing to delve into possibility, but still, we’re restricted from the unobtrusive dreaming that we did as a child. bills and fitness and jobs become priorities. some of us try to follow what we think might be our dreams only to find that they weren’t ours at all, but parts of parents dreams or ideas instilled in us in the classroom. others never return to the dreaming ideal and instead seek out routine that helps feed them, clothe them, and generally helps sustain life. but for what? what is a life without dreaming?

it turns out that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you want or how old you are – dreaming is essential. dreaming is what makes life so much more fun, it’s what really drives us to try new things and feed our hungry souls. even the simple act of daydreaming, or thinking in ones own head with a consciousness, can serve as a respite from the rest of the world. if you don’t dream, you don’t live. dreaming allows us all to think about what might be and what could be, it gives us a rest from the grind and gives us hope for the future. dreaming is the breath behind the soul.

so, tell me, do you dream? do you give yourself full and total abandonment to dream about anything in the world you want? you should. no matter how hard you work yourself, make sure to dream. even if it’s on the subway home each evening or over a cup of coffee, dream.