Sa Ham – I am She (2017 series) – 8 (Land Dreams to Earth)

From Pinterest here and perhaps originally from here

Today is Shasthi. As per cultural beliefs, today is the day Goddess Durga reaches Earth. It is time for some of us to reach Earth too.

We are encouraged to dream big, dream the impossible, dream for anything in any world. Active dreaming is a powerful act which opens up many channels of our brain; dreams (as in ‘I want to do that’) are powerful anchors that help us move from feelings of despair and inaction. I believe elaborate and deliberate dreaming can be a resourceful anchor located in the future like how trauma is a unresourceful anchor located in the past.

And indeed, for some of us who are tied down to realities in a gristly cynical way, dreaming can feel as a liberating force.

The problem is not with dreaming. The problem is we don’t work on refining dreams and making it a reality. We are encouraged to dream but we remain unskilled in the art of making it real.

Few things happen when you feel unable to move dreams to earth. You may say, I want to be the world’s best dancer or writer or doctor. Or I want to be very rich. And then you do nothing about it and blame others for not recognizing your talent. You blame others for sabotaging you out of jealousy or ignorance. You call others morons and feel unfairly sidelined.

Or you say, I want to be very rich or very successful in a certain area and then think destiny/fate is working against you. You feel Universe is not supporting your goals or planets are positioned against you. You feel you had a horrid life and have traumatic memories which impede you from reaching your goal. You feel you have certain disabilities and hence cannot reach your goal. And after that, you want to be pitied and empathized with.

You are the coal that could have been diamond. The ‘could-have-been’ a haunting possibility colouring moments, drenching interactions, splitting joy so that eventually you are sad, bitter, angry and perhaps, depressed.

Or you say, I want to be so and so, but since I have no money or networks or supporters, I cannot get there. You condition your dreams to require certain elements external to you. And then quickly give up.

Or you say, I want to be so and so today and then you say I want to do that another day and something else a different day. You only dream. And then feel sick that you have so many dreams and nothing is being converted into reality.

Or you say, I want to be so and so and then refuse to modify it in any which way. You are adamant that unless you achieve your dream as you had initially sensed it, you have fallen short or failed. You refuse to take feedback and become Don Quixote fighting windmills.

Dream and bring it down to Earth. In my Writing Masterclass, I demonstrate the Walt Disney technique. The participant moves systematically from the Dreamer position to Realist position to the Critic position and thereby figures out a way to make dreams into real projects.

Dream fully, uninhibited and feeling whole and complete. Then become a realist and ask which elements of that dream can be converted and which won’t work in the present moment. If you don’t have specific resources, how can you build them up? What other resources do you have? What skills do you already excel in? What are your other commitments? To make a dream real, requires flexibility and openness.

Start where you are, with what you have and do what you can.

Thereafter, find flaws in your plan and make it robust. As much you are flexible, it is important to make your plans flexible and resilient. Some of us become critics too fast while others refuse to find flaws. Neither helps. Coming to Earth is negotiating the current terrain and weather.

The reason why we become easy critics is because of a continuous negative self-talk we engage in. Those of us who are harsh critics need to spend some time practicing unbounded dreaming. And those of us who refuse to find flaws need to shed fear, detach and become the Masters of our works.

Dream. Plan. Act. Use feedback to improve plans. Act.

No ifs and buts and will-do-tomorrow. Act Now.

The wonderful Goddess finally walks the Earth, equipped, flexible, strategic and she wins the battle by actually fighting it.

Act.

You can read other posts of the Sa Ham - I am She (2017 series) here:

(1) Akaalbodhan

(2) Dashabhuja 

(3) The Battle

(4) Unconditional Love/Heal from Shame

(5) Identification

(6) she is She

(7) Battles are in our Mind

(8) Land Dreams to Earth

(9) Equation with Money
(10) The Battle that Isn't

(11) La Que Sabe/The Woman who Knows

(12) No Visarjan/Sa Ham