Let’s Talk About Vision
Learning to recognize when you’ve made a dream come true.
Let’s talk about vision. We have this notion that when a vision becomes reality, it will come with fanfare. Trumpets will sound. Angels will descend. A banner will unfurl from the top of the vision announcing, “This is what I dreamt of!” But the fruition of a vision comes more subtly; if we don’t pause to take in the sight, we miss it.
I often talk to people who are literally living their dream, but they don’t see it. They’re trampling over what five years ago they wanted so desperately & focusing on what they want five years from now. Making a vision a reality is not easy. Easy is a lie we’ve been told. That money should come easily, romance, friendship. And while we should cultivate more ease in our lives (less grasping, more inviting; less anxiousness, more trust) we also need to understand what our ancestors knew: Life is work.
We’ve been told we should have it now. Hell, have it yesterday. Our ancestors knew good things take time. Good wine takes time. Good bread takes time—much longer than the package of instant yeast they’ve sold us tricks us into believing. Good cheese must age. Good ideas must maturate. A good vision must be built, bit by bit, one part in your imagination, two parts with your hands, one part with God’s grace. If you think your dream should’ve come true yesterday, then you’ll feel like you’ve already failed, when, in fact, you’re simply on your way.
This vision, here, of mine, I can’t tell you how much work went into bringing it into reality. The outdoor wooden table courtesy of the Tuscan countryside of my dreams, the quiet, beautiful mountain town, the baby, the husband running around outside the margins of this snapshot, the from-scratch dinner cooking on the fire, took years of energy & persistence. But it would all be for naught if I lacked the grace to appreciate the sight once it lay before me.
Don’t savor, devour. Don’t appreciate, expect. Don’t be grateful for what you have but be discouraged by what you don’t yet have. This is what we’ve been told. So, if you want to be a rebel—savor, appreciate, be grateful. Don’t let them drag you through your life. Your blood knows: good things take time & all good things in their time.
