What dreams may come

Some things in life are largely unexplainable. Words fail to do them justice, and their existence can only be defined in sensory terms.

As I was growing up, I always imagined that people just knew what they wanted to do in life; I assumed it was an awakening that I too would one day be privy to.

So I waited… and waited.

And in my waiting, my expectation swept in like a tidal wave, drowning the dreams I was perhaps too naive or afraid to listen to in the crescendo of water, and the soft voice inside of me that struggled to be heard was submerged beneath the blue.

There my dreams stayed for many years, blinking silently in the depths, until slowly the waters began to recede… and I heard the voice once again.

For the past year and a half that voice has been repeating the same three words over and over like a mantra I couldn’t ignore: Travel, write, truth… travel, write, truth.

There was no switching it off, no getting away from it. Day in, day out, the mantra resounded, urging me to follow my dreams. And so I did.

Travel, write, truth.

I booked a ticket to travel the world, started this blog, and challenged myself to be honest each and every day, both with myself and others. Well actually that all happened in reverse order, but any hoo…

Only now, as I creep further into my thirties, have I learnt to actually listen. I tune in daily to my inner voice and act on her advice; it has become a core part of my being.

Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
– Walter Anderson

Several years ago, a good friend said something that has stayed with me ever since. She likened challenging periods of our lives to being lost in a dark forest, and said that all you had to do was keep moving. Eventually you would come to a clearing, and from then on the path would widen until the forest faded away behind you.

I have never forgotten her words, because she was right.

If I had to choose just one word to describe the past 18 months of my life, it would be motion – or perhaps momentum would be a better choice. I kept pushing myself forward, and this is where that momentum has taken me.

The further I have travelled along my own path, the more the scenery around me has changed, and the more I have changed with it. I am more aware of myself and my capabilities, and can finally say with certainty what it is that I want to do with my life.

I have battled with inner demons, and faced up to my own faults and failings. It has been like reacquainting myself with an old friend; one that is sometimes really annoying, but who you accept and love wholeheartedly.

The most important thing to remember is this: to be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become.
– W. E. B. Du Bois

If you want to make your dreams come true, you firstly have to be exactly that; true.

True to yourself.

I spent three decades ignoring the whispers of my soul, and shutting out the very part of me that has made me the happiest. And yet, if I’m honest with myself, I know that I always heard it. I always sensed that I was destined for great things – that on some level, my life would become great. Not because I walk around thinking that I am great, but because I believe in my power to make it so. I believe in myself.

More than anything, I always had hope, be it misguided or well placed, and that positivity has shaped my life. Maya Angelou, a woman known for her way with words, put it best when she referred to herself as a Professional Hopemonger.

Maybe that’s what I’ll be if I ever decide to stop travelling.

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This is part of a community post on dreams and creativity hosted by Aletheia Schmidt. Read her original post You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one and check out those of my fellow invitees below:

• Karen Hammons
• Meme and He
• Expat at Home
• Own Awesome
• The Unlost