Dreams are our superpower
Use yours wisely and well
This has been an unusually long, golden autumn in my hilly corner of western Massachusetts. We’ve had none of the usual rainstorms that bring down the leaves, so they are lingering on the trees, blazing yellow, orange and red, turning a walk through the woods into a magical experience of fairyland—like being able to stroll through Tolkien’s Elvish forest of Lothlorien.
Of course, the realist in me knows that this long dry spell is not good for our beautiful trees, or for us animals either. Streams have dried up, lakes are low, even wells are running dry.
But still, the beauty of this moment is undeniable—as is the terror of this moment, as we in the US face an election that seems downright existential, the two sides so far apart that we can hardly imagine continuing to live in the same country. Politicians keep trying to tell us that “we are all Americans,” but the phrase rings hollow when it’s clear that we lack a shared understanding of what it means to be an American.
In this fractured, fractious season, under the golden sugar maple trees, Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech is ringing in my ears. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream about America that was so strong it could not be snuffed out when the haters took his life. It is still inspiring us decades later.
I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal….
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be engulfed, every hill shall be exalted and every mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to climb up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning “My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father’s died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!”
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
King was referring specifically to racial justice in America, still not fully accomplished more than 60 years later, but thanks to the vision he shared we have certainly come a long way from the blatant, brutal sanctioned racism of the Jim Crow era.
In the United States, in a year when a Black/South Asian woman is on the verge of becoming our President, we are also still dreaming our way towards gender equality.
It falls to us to pick up the torch of Reverend King, to dream of true equality for all citizens of the United States, regardless of their heritage or what body they call home.
I continue to dream of a kinder, more compassionate, more generous America, that uses its great might and ingenuity to do good, to help those less fortunate, to make this planet a thriving, bounteous garden for all Earthlings.
I firmly believe that our dreams matter.
Every human advance has come first as a twinkle in someone’s mind’s eye, which they then shared with others.
Communication is our human superpower.
Not “I think therefore I am,” but “I think and we can make it so.”
As with any power, communication can be used for good or for ill.
There are so many competing stories out there now, so much disinformation spread with the intent to sow chaos and mistrust.
All the more reason that we who hold fast to the golden dream of Martin Luther King Jr. must share what we believe, what we value; must join him and his heirs in “hewing the stone of hope out of the mountain of despair.”
Rather than his mining metaphor, I prefer to follow Emily Dickinson in envisioning hope as
the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
In this strange time, as full of blazing beauty as of sorrow and fear, I encourage you to cradle the hope that perches in your soul.
Blow on the embers of your belief in the better world that could be—that will be if enough of us dream in synchrony and make it so.
Give your imagination free rein to dream up a better future, and share your ideas and yearnings with those around you. Write out of your fervent desire to live well and to leave a good living for future generations.
Don’t hide your superpower of communication under a rock. Let it blaze, to warm the hearts and minds of others.
This is truly the way change happens. It’s the least—and the most—that we can do.
Sharing a moment in the golden forest.
My 2025 International Writing Retreat Schedule
Because we can't stay glued to our desks all the time!
Come get away from your screen and give your creative spirit a boost with one of these upcoming trips:
Riding & Writing in the Azores
January 4 - 11, 2025
Click here or the photo above to find out all the details about this trip to the magnificent Patio Ecolodge on Faial Island, Portugal. Reserve your spot now!
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
Click here or the photo above, from my 2024 Riding & Writing retreat at Hestaland, Iceland, to find out all the details and how to reserve your spot on this awesome creative tonic of a trip!
The Art & Craft of Purposeful Memoir: Annual Tuscan Memoir Retreat
September 27 - October 4, 2025
Click here or the photo above (a detail from the floor of the Duomo in Siena) to find out all the details and how to reserve your spot at our dreamy private villa in Tuscany!
Writing workshops you can count on to stimulate your creative spirit!
In my writing workshops, whether in-person or online, you get the benefit of my decades of teaching lively small-group, discussion-based college literature and writing classes.
My classes are interactive and thought-provoking, cultivating writing that is intuitive, generative and organic—emerging from within rather than based on an artificial structure imposed from without.
In my writers’ circles, I create a warm, welcoming atmosphere and carefully structured opportunities for instructor and peer feedback that is non-evaluative but highly effective and productive. Sharing is encouraged but always optional, and confidentiality is a must.
My students are often surprised at how much they are able to produce in my workshops, and how deeply they are able to tap their own inner reservoirs of stories, images and metaphors. Try it and see for yourself!
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
