Photography by Anka Zhuravleva
By Kim Normand
Dreaming and utilizing the power of your mind is necessary for all of us to be able to reach a state of excited creativity and fulfillment in life. Dreaming or more specifically envisioning the way we want reality to trigger our spark within and gives us a goal to pursue that is aligned to our passion.
When I was growing up I was told to “get practical” and “ you are such a dreamer you won’t achieve anything “. Dreaming was looked upon as a negative.
It took me years to become proud of my “dreamer” status as I realized without a dream I would seriously not achieve anything in my life. If you cannot see it within yourself how can you create it ?
We all need that dream to trigger a path forward. Children should be encouraged to be creative and to use their mind in this way. If you dream of reaching the stars at least there will be a chance of getting there, maybe you’ll reach the ceiling but without the dream, you will not go anywhere at all.
When I look back I realized one extremely important fact. I always needed someone in my dream corner, the person or people, who believed in and supported my vision. We became a team, a dream machine. It is ideal to have others understand and support your vision. The dream machine is much more effective if everyone involved in the process supports and is willing to create a common goal. Only with this cohesion can any team reach success for all and people will be willing and dedicated to the necessary process. Creating a life we love based on our dreams can be challenging. It asks us to stand up in ways we generally could not have predicted. It may trigger insecurity and self-doubt. When there are people or even just one person that believe in us and our dream it gives us the strength to deal with the challenges we have to face daily. It is their smile, their words of encouragement and the reality check we need that helps us to be the best we can be.
Creating a life we love based on our dreams can be challenging. It asks us to stand up in ways we generally could not have predicted. It may trigger insecurity and self-doubt. When there are people or even just one person that believe in us and our dream it gives us the strength to deal with the challenges we have to face daily. It is their smile, their words of encouragement and the reality check we need that helps us to be the best we can be.
Having someone in your corner should push you to be better, do better, create better and deliver better than you dreamed of in the first place.
So many dreams sit in a closed vault within due to fear of failure. Fear within paralyzes and prevents dreams from materializing. We are beings that have an inner calling to search for happiness in our lives. This means different things to each of us. This is the base of our dreams. Happiness, fulfillment, and joy.
An interesting aspect of this process is learning more about yourself. Self-awareness is a natural bi-product of stepping out of your comfort zone intent on creating something that means so much to you. Creating and building dreams in not an overnight experience – it can be slow to happen and will call on you to be resilient and focused. Most times it does not have an exact end goal. As you reach one milestone there are many more with shifting systems and realities to face.
Make sure you have “your” person or people in your corner who believe and support your dream, vision and create your own dream team that will take you on a
path to success. See yourself as part of the whole. Think about what the world needs most and use your creativity to benefit your environment and naturally, your enviroment will support your dream too. You will expereince the greatest sense of fulfilment in realizing a dream that considers the well-being of all.
Dream, visualize, create goals and go make it happen…
Kim Normand, the author in her own right of the influential Raising Wisdom, Tomorrow, and A Mother’s Legacy books, is the immensely talented co-author of the accompanying Freeing Freddie, The Dream Weaver: Workbook and Activity Book. Prominent in the nonprofit world for over three decades, she has been a part of many successful ventures and organizations, including Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation (now USC Shoah Foundation–The Institute for Visual History), established by Steven Spielberg.
As well, Kim is a founding director of the Apartheid Museum, sat on the board of the Human Rights Commission for Education, and was the Founder/CEO of the Tolerance Foundation.
She is a Fellow of Ashoka, the world’s leading network of social entrepreneurs, and has studied at Harvard Kennedy School of International Studies. Kim is the Founder/Executive Director of Tomorrow Trust (as previously noted) supporting orphaned and vulnerable children/youth with education, and she appears frequently on Ted Talks. Kim calls both Atlanta, Georgia and Johannesburg, SA, home. https://withlovefromfreddie.co
