Authentic Dreams

Today I thought it would be fun to pivot and talk about dreams - a slightly more elevated version of what we want in life - the desires that actually inspire and motivate us, that bring focus and purpose to what we do. You know, dreams.

For some of us our dreams can be super out there, somewhat untethered to current reality, while others of us make do with teeny tiny dreams, dreams that when you think of it, really reflect the difficulty we have with dreaming - like struggling to imagine something outside our current situation. Or maybe we don’t feel entitled to dream big enough. There are many reasons we can end up with what we call “faulty dreams” on the path of active authenticity, dreams that honestly don’t reflect what’s true for us.

But today I want to highlight another reason our dream might be a “faulty” one, and it’s when we generate our dream without considering our true capacity. And let me just take a minute here to read from Chasing the Wild Authentic, I believe it’s chapter eleven.

“[When] your dream doesn’t reflect your true capacity. These dreams arise with no thought to your abilities or limits, and thus doom you to under-stimulation or perpetual overwhelm and exhaustion.”

In other words, when your dream doesn’t take into account what you can truly manage, allowing some circumstance to shortchange your ability or capacity, or overreaching beyond what you can do at this time. It’s being out of synch with yourself or your situation. Going back to the text:

“An example here is when your dream keeps you locked into a ‘safe’ situation with external status but internal unrest, or when you follow an entrepreneurial pursuit without the needed time or capital to truly make it work.

  • Or when the execution of your dream doesn’t play to your strengths.

  • Or when the dream plays to your strengths but ignores your aliveness.”

Whoa. All of a sudden this thing of having a dream has become very real, and very all-about-you. Can you feel that? Which is of course the hallmark of an authentic dream.

It’s refusing to divorce what you want from who you truly are.

When we do split off our dreams from our reality, these “faulty” dreams don’t take us closer to who we are. In fact, they do just the opposite. So even if we achieve “the dream,” such a dream won’t ultimately affirm who we are. And they won’t create ease, happiness, and wellbeing, the signature result of authentic dream-making.

While creating authentic dreams depends on having a pretty good idea of who you are, which of course is the work of the earlier chapters in Chasing the Wild Authentic, it also depends on having a clear-eyed understanding of your current limits and commitments. And this clarity is something we can all pretty much achieve if we spend a bit of time considering our current limits and commitments. Ask yourself:

  • Am I operating at capacity right now, or do I have room for more challenge and growth?

  • Does a dream I have fundamentally conflict with a commitment I hold dear: for example, the kind of parenting you’d like to do, or a career goal, or lifestyle, you’d like to achieve?

  • What truly feeds my joy and sense of aliveness, and will the dreams I hold feed these rivers of wellbeing?

Just these three questions. Thinking through the lens of these questions can help throw light on whether the dreams you have are in fact authentic dreams, or if your dreams might be “faulty” ones and in fact setting you against yourself.

Good things to think about as you pursue not only an authentic life, but your authentic dreams.

Ingrid Getzan

Hi - I am a web designer with over 15 years of freelance experience and over 20 in marketing.

I use a holistic approach to define what’s best for you, your website, and your audience. Let’s transform your business using fundamental research strategies and insightful, educated planning to create the website that defines your business…together.

https://ingridgetzan.com
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