Today, we remember Martin Luther King, Jr., and his infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. We all must find those words swirling in our brains. After all, those words must be among the most portentous in literary history. They leave us spiraling out of the bounds of reality, and then bring us back to brings us back to Earth.
After all… We’ve all had a dream at one time, right? There was that dream of who we would be or become, as we played at being a grown up. And, somewhere along the way, we (hopefully) dreamed about changing the world, making it better, and creating waves. We wished, dreamed and planned — all impossible, but they felt so real that shivers would run up and down our spines.
I have a dream…
Saying it’s a dream makes it seem improbable now. It feels like a the frail fragments that enter into our sleep hours. Those thoughts and musings seem: unreal, figments or snatches of those moments we can’t bear to forget.
Maybe… We should really be using other words. Instead of “I have a dream,” it’s “I have a plan.” I will make this world a better place. I will not sit by and daydream, madly musing about what I want the world to be. I will act. I will be. I will become.
Then, we can move beyond dreaming, past powerlessness, and perhaps just make those former impossible machinations into a reality for ourselves, our children, and the future.