Dream About the Dream

Previously in the Dreaming Series: “What are Your Dreams?” and “Dreaming Big & Small”

I started with a dream but came to a decision
I started with a dream but now I have a mission

I have a goal to see beyond my vision
With imagination I’ll get there – Harry Connick Jr.

Okay, so I’m starting to remember dreams that got shoved into a closet, and I’m even letting myself entertain new dreams. Now what? I’ve learned from the past that it’s not enough to have a dream, I have to dream about the details too. Part of the reason dreaming was/is a sore subject for me is due to a lack of details. Details tether our dreams to reality. We are more likely to pursue our dreams if we are thinking about them in details.

Can you think of anything more frustrating than when you want something but can’t reach it?

Before I move on, this is good place to acknowledge a pink elephant in the room—why dreaming became a sore subject. Oh, yes, I see that big, looming question in the corner of my eye. I hear it call out to me like a dripping faucet in the night. I’m just waiting to the end of this series to talk about it. I hope you will join the conversation—we have so much to learn from each other.

So, I figure the best way to talk about details is to tell you the 3 events that got me thinking about details.

Quarterbacks

I’m sitting in a staff meeting at a church where I work. The pastor of the church was approaching his retirement day and was taking this opportunity to share his final thoughts on leadership. The pastor told us about one of the first sermons he preached at this church. It communicated his vision; he felt like he nailed it and really connected with the congregation that morning. The next day a lady from the church called him, complemented the delivery and content of his message, and then asked, “Now what?” The pastor was a little surprised and responded, “Well, if you’ll remember, I went on to talk about that.” The lady said respectfully, “No. You told us the vision. It’s exciting. But now what? What are the next steps?”

The pastor was little put off and asked a trusted friend about the sermon and the lady’s comments. His friend asked the pastor, “What’s the difference between quarterbacks and cheerleaders?” The pastor replied, “Quarterbacks are in the game, cheerleaders are on the sidelines.” His friend said, “Cheerleaders will encourage and cheer you on for the entire game. A quarterback, however, knows how to get the ball down the field.”

As I’m listening to this story, the light bulb turns for me. Duh. I would never set a goal for one of my students without also giving them resources to reach it. Likewise, there is more to dreaming than fantasizing. Dreaming is part vision and part practical steps. If my dream is to score a touchdown, I need a playbook.

A Doe

A few days later, literally, I’m hiking early in the morning. The trail is undisturbed from a long night’s rest. (That’s a fancy way of saying I’m clearing away spider webs with my face as I walk.) It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, I’m breathing deep when I hear this noise. I look around, thinking it may be a cyclist, and I see a doe—a deer, a female deer. Along the trail are ridges created by old iron ore mine shafts that have caved in. The deer was about 10 feet from me at the bottom of one these ridges. I clearly startled her. I stop walking because I thought there might be more of them and I’ve seen a video of deer on its hind legs pummeling a human being. So, you know, err on the side of caution. The doe stops too, watching me out of the corner of one of her giant eyes. I take a few steps forward. She scrambles and seems trapped. I take a few more steps. In an awkward but calculated three leaps, the doe was on top of the ridge looking down at me—still watching me with her giant eyes.

I have personally never seen a deer do that, and it was kind of amazing. I stood there for a moment thinking about what had just happened. Of course, like a good Christian I think about Psalms 18:33, He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. That scripture has now come to life in a whole new way for me. But more than that, I kept thinking about those three leaps. This doe knew she didn’t want to be where she was and took the necessary steps to get to higher ground.

Interestingly, we walked parallel to one another for a while after that, she never stopped watching me. She charted new territory on top of the ridge while I safely continued to walk a path someone else cleared for me. Something decidedly changed in me that day. I was no longer satisfied with where I was. I wanted dreams, and I wanted to calculate the leaps it would take to get on top of them.

Brainstorming

No joke, one week later, I attended a planning retreat for the same church mentioned earlier. Throughout the day, we participated in five-minute, collective brainstorming sessions for different parts of the ministry. Brainstorming wasn’t a new concept to me as I often use it in academic writing and in songwriting. However, I had never done it in five minute blocks nor in a collective group. It was sooooo great! I couldn’t over think or talk myself out of anything. Brainstorming with other people allowed us all to see the topic from many perspectives, and we kept inspiring each other. (By the Way…community is the focus of next week’s post—we need each other.)

We also brainstormed in a different way. My boss quickly shared an example of out-of-the-box thinking. After the Wright brothers invented the airplane it was inevitable that man would eventually go to the moon. What was inconceivable at that time was that people would be able to watch the Apollo 11 mission in their living rooms on a little box called a television. There is a difference between progressive thinking and thinking out of the box. Progressive thinking is valid, but inconceivable thinking is, well, inconceivable. Out-of-the-box thinking is not easy. We are patterned creatures, and it takes effort to re-think ideas. However, it is so much fun trying to think differently. The practical steps that you gain in the process will fill an entire playbook. Just for fun, here is one simple exercise to demonstrate how patterned we are.

Nudge, nudge. Start thinking about your dreams in details. Details tether our dreams to reality. Brainstorm, think progressively and about the logical leaps needed for your dream. Think out side the box, give yourself space for surprising, inconceivable details.

Need a little help getting started? The question method is my personal favorite. Ask yourself what, when, how, why about your dream—any open ended question will do. Avoid questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no”. Here are some examples:

Check out these Google links too: “brainstorming”, “creative thinking”, “out-of-the-box thinking”.

Coming Up:
Dream with People (September 28)
Dream Blockers (October 5)