Hi Friends,
I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about we get from survival mode back to dream mode and let me tell you, it’s all about getting visionary.
When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with the movie Cinderella. I wanted a Gus Gus in my life more than anything. I would fantasize about carrying him around in my pocket and the two of us getting caught up in mischief all day.
Now, Gus aside, one of my favorite songs from Cinderella is “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.” I recently heard Christina Perri’s cover of it and it was like hearing the song for the very first time. The lyrics go…
“A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true”
All of my favorite themes: dreams, grief, and faith.
Dreams are a unifying force—we all have them. But the thing is, not all of us feel like we have permission to get on the court with our dreams. Some of us feel like dreaming is for the select few—that not everyone gets to have their innermost desires met—in work or in life. This can be even more true for those of us who are marginalized. And sometimes, like after 2 years in a pandemic, we just feel too zapped to dream. I so get it!
But I’m here to convince you to dream anyway. Joy is an act of resistance and joy is an active ingredient in the journey to make your dreams come to fruition.
When I first left my marketing agency in my late 20’s, I was so disconnected from my desires. I was newly diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases and was coming to terms with my own behaviors that had set me up to miss the mark. Life felt so topsy-turvy and I felt nowhere near dreaming. It took me about a year of healing and coming out of fight or flight mode before I could even think about what was next.
Every day I took a micro step. I meditated, I set boundaries, I journaled, I moved my body and made the best choices I could until I felt safe enough to dream again. This is a valid and important part of the process. And the resulting steps I took are what led me here—doing my juiciest life's work.
I believe in your dreams and that doing the work that lights you up is your birthright.
Real talk, getting on the court with our dreams is one of the MOST vulnerable things we can do. It asks us to bare our souls, to be really honest about the wishes our hearts are making, and to walk towards them publicly, knowing full well that we may miss the mark (if I had a dollar for every time I have!). It can be really freaking scary.
However, a wise person once said, on the other side of our greatest fears are our greatest dreams. If we can shift those fears just a millimeter each day, before you know it, you’re walking towards a place that feels like home. What micro step can you take today in service of your dreams?
My favorite things to support dreaming
Inside The Nourishment Journal I have a whole section on how to write your dreams and shift the mindset blocks standing between you and your wildest desires.
This book on Free Play has been instrumental for me. For those of us that spend so much time at work or behind a computer, we can forget the importance of play and creativity. This starts to loosen the threads and gives you permission to free your inner child.
This meditation I made for you on the dream for your life one year from now
“The Artist’s Way” is a tried and true method for unleashing your creativity and discovering your truest desires. It takes discipline and consistency but yields major results.
Let this be the permission and sign you’ve been waiting for.
To dreams,
Amina xx