When You Wish Upon a Star ⭐️
Perhaps an interesting point of trivia for you is that the only insect to ever have a top forty hit was Jiminy Cricket, back in the 1940s, with the song “When You Wish Upon a Star” from the Disney movie “Pinocchio”. The song has always resonated very strongly with me, and somewhere along the line, I have even acquired a Jiminy Cricket stuffed animal that has resided in our living room for more than 25 years. I think the reason the song has always been one of my favorites is that it is about dreaming. We can only live in the present, but most of us spend far too much time focused on the future or the past. In my case, my balance has always erred on the side of the future, and a part of that for me has always included dreaming.
For me, dreaming is about “what if.” It is about ignoring practicality, the status quo and, instead, envisioning a better version of Greg, of my surroundings, of my Life. I really don’t know which came first, the dreaming and then seeing a future, or looking to or for a future and dreaming it. At this point, I really don’t care either. I am not so naive as to think there is one single thing I can point to that has transformed my life, but I know dreaming is a necessary piece of my transformational pie. (It is for you too). When it is time for me to make some sort of transformational change in my life, dreaming comes to the forefront of the process.
I am writing about this because I have a good friend right now who is hurting, and when we’ve talked and I’ve mentioned the value of dreaming, she indicated that she really doesn’t have time to dream. We’ve all been there, I know I sure have. But I think she is both typical and atypical in this. She is atypical because she does recognize the value and importance of dreaming and most people don’t. She is typical because she isn’t engaging in it.
I also think my friend is, literally, blocked right now when it comes to dreaming. To be able to dream, you have to make space for it, in both your inner and outer world, and have an intent to allow it to unfold. If your world is in constant chaos, healthy dreaming can be difficult, if not impossible. That is where my friend is right now. (I think some types of dreaming, those that are escapist, are not the kinds of dreams I am talking about. I am talking about dreams to move you toward something, not to help you escape from something unpleasant.)
At least for me, dreaming is much more of a process than a single, one-time event. It is sending an intent to the universe repeatedly and allowing the universe time to organize and present a solution. As I have written before, many times when I do an annual review of my personal journal writing, I will see something, a single sentence or thought, that appears in February, then maybe again in May, and then again in September. And, in the context of those individual entries, it doesn’t really point to anything, but in the context of a review, the recurring idea takes on special significance. Other times, as I am typing a new, daily entry, words will appear that totally surprise me, and their importance becomes obvious immediately. I do not think journal writing is the only way for a process like this to unfold, so I am not intending to imply that it is. Whether it is journal writing, creating a painting or sculpture, writing or playing some music, or doing anything else that stimulates your right-brain function, such as taking a walk, jogging, doing some yoga, meditating, or praying, any or all of these things can provide the dreaming process with a vehicle through which to work.
Let’s be clear, when dreaming (with eyes open), we don’t want to be practical. (When you go to the ocean, you can take a thimble, a pail, or a 5-gallon bucket. The sea will fill any of them for you; it doesn’t matter.) For virtually everyone, the result of this process is not some incremental, linear improvement (Thimble). It is more often a giant leap (Large Bucket). 10X-ing has become a notable topic in the last few years. Unfortunately, the idea is usually presented in the context of 10X-ing a business or your income. Non-linear leaps in who we are as people do not lend themselves to easy measurement or KPIs! But as those of us who have experienced such growth can attest, they can be just as rejuvenating, life-affirming, and expansive as any more easily quantifiable growth.
When you are in chaos, like my friend is, creating space for something like this to occur can be difficult. I think the overlooked key, though, is that space must be created in both our inner and outer worlds. Too many people, when they are overwhelmed, try to find space by, say, taking a walk. And that can often help a lot because our inner and outer worlds are connected, but too often when we are taking that walk, on the inside, the turmoil continues unabated. There is no easy solution when this happens. There are two that come to mind. One is to simply wait. “This too shall pass.” This is not always a passive process, though it often is. The other is to demand help. To paraphrase the quote I’ve heard many times before, “When the baby cries, the mother comes. The mother can’t not come.” So, this second approach is decidedly proactive and yelling works better than whimpering!
But when you wish upon a star, your dreams do come true.
If you found this issue helpful and want to hear more from Greg, be sure to subscribe to his podcast, Pants Around Ankles Prevention, where each episode delivers a punch of truth to help you wake up, gain perspective, and live with greater clarity and purpose. Listen and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
This issue was originally published by Greg Hayne on Substack.