I love powerful distinctions. As one of my teachers, Leza Danly of Lucid Living shares, they open up pathways to new possibility and lost power.
One such distinction that Danly shares, is the difference between dreams and visions…
DREAMS
Dreams are expressions of desires and imagination.
When desire flows into imagination, we create imagery otherwise known as a “dream”.
For example, you may have a dream of COVID coming to an end and travelling freely this year – somewhere sunny, sandy and warm perhaps!
The dream holds desires, such as adventure, freedom and fun – perhaps even deep change. Meanwhile, the imagery may be of a white-sand beach, splashing in the ocean with family, snorkeling in a sea of colorful fish, and evening cocktails overlooking sunset.
Note two components here:
- The ‘form’ of the dream: the holiday, family at the beach, fun in the ocean, snorkeling, warm weather, sunset, etc.
- The deeper ‘function’ of the dream: freedom, play, connection, adventure, rejuvenation, and joy.
Dreams contain our deeper desires, but also reveal passions, longings, fulfillment, and even fantasies that allow us to escape. The functions of our dreams, can be either restrictive or expansive.
(If this intrigues you, I’ll be sharing much more about this in the upcoming Ignite Your Vision retreat.)
While a dream is created via desire and imagination, a vision is received…
VISIONS
A vision is received from a deeper source within, whether we call it intuition, soul, universe, God or other.
It’s a deep inner knowing that something is not just possible, but destined to be before it happens.
For example, over my decades of coaching, there have been three training clients who were 20+ years into marriage with their wives. At different points, they each shared with me that they knew their wife was “the one” as soon as they laid eyes upon her. (One’s wife was even engaged to another man at the time, which didn’t stop his vision from becoming his destiny.)
Visions can be of many things, and carry a sense of guidance or a feeling of being pulled by what is possible.
The tug of such clear potential can feel like a pull from the future.
A more popular example is of Dr. Martin Luther King. Although he used the words, “I have a dream” he also had a vision.
He clearly saw a future not-yet born of freedom and equality for all, even amidst deep separation, racism, violence, hatred, poverty and disparity.
Cultivating a space for vision requires access to our soul.
When we can quiet the noise in us and around us, we can better hear those softer whispers of our inner wisdom and guidance.
INVITE TO ACTION:
In these noisy, distracted and chaotic times, I invite you to notice where the noise and distractions are coming from, and work on reducing and replacing them.
- What fuels the noise?
- What helps you get quiet and hear the deeper whispers?
- What’s the deeper dream for your life? (What is the “form”? What is the “function”?)