“All men dream, but not equally.  Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.

– T. E. Lawrence

Dream along with me for a bit.  Close your eyes and nestle into your pillow if you must; but if that is the way you choose to dream, I wish you restful sleep.  I want to talk to those of you who dare to dream with eyes wide open.  We all have dreams.  Some come in the night when our mind is in receptive mode; and we are left to scratch our heads when morning comes and try to decipher their meaning.  Some dreams are nightmares, and they jolt us awake and leave our hearts pounding and our eyes afraid to close again.  Some dreams take us soaring and flying high above the land and tumbling through the sky without a care.  We swoop and climb, ever higher, and feel free of the limitations of the physical world.

Some people lend great meaning to their dreams.  Others see them as inconsequential.  Some, like me, even solve problems while dreaming and awaken to find that they have the solution that yesterday had eluded them.  T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, tells us that those who choose to dream while awake are dangerous men; and during his exploits in the desert, I am sure that “dangerous” would have been the correct word.  Apart from the context of war and subterfuge, I think we can dig beneath the surface of the word and discover the power that drives a person to bring dreams into waking hours and act on them in the light of day.

I think of all the things we dream of changing in the world.  I think of all the dreamers who sit in isolation and pray for peace and seek to promote the wishes that work toward the greater good of all humankind.  I think about the idea that our thoughts are powerful and direct our thinking and drive our choices toward the manifestation of our impact on our world.  I can see why Lawrence called the dreamers of the day dangerous men.  When we dream intentionally and then choose to act on our dreams, there is no denying that there will be results.  We must choose carefully the dreams that call us to action.

The Butterfly Effect returns again to my thoughts, and I try to imagine the collective impact that dreamers of the day might have on our lives as each of us dreams our own dream and sends it rippling out into the world.  I dream right now of a world where each dreamer fills her heart with love — unconditional love — and dreams that the greater good of all will be served and that all human beings will learn to live in peace.  I dream that the dreamers will act on their dreams and find solutions that save our environment and keep our planet healthy and green.  I dream of a time when the abundance that the earth has to offer will reach every person, and none will be hungry or in need any more.

We must not be deterred by the nightmares that sometimes seem to be all around us.  They are the results of dreams gone awry; and they swirl and whirl until we feel dizzy and disoriented and helpless to change them.  It is time to claim the power of our dreams and send them, while we are awake, to combat the chaos that threatens to be our undoing.  Like the rising sun on a cloudy morning, our dreams can carry goodness and light that will cause the clouds to clear and allow a new dream to unfold for our world.  Dream with me.  Stay awake.  No need for a pillow — just fill your heart with love and let it overflow.