Bringing dreams to life through human connection

Apr 23

Our best laid plans remain lifeless, until we liven them with a pulse.

You know the ones - the “shoulda, coulda & wouldas” of your self-talk.

The stale new year’s resolutions. Forgotten dreams hibernating amongst the pages of last year’s journal. Worlds reimagined on whiteboards yesterday, smudged & given the cold shoulder today.

How often do you push aside your aspirations in favour of life’s chaotic highway?

Days roll into months & months roll into years. Again & again you offload onto close friends who listen to your frustrations with the mundane. They can see you are thinking your mind stupid. They know what you are yet to realise.

Until you stop controlling your life with a remote control from the comfort of your couch, nothing will change.

The world will never notice the dreams held captive in your mind until you have find the courage to set them free

I liken our mind to an incubator. Protective vaults where intuitive sparks turn into ideas & ideas when curiously explored, turn into dreams.

Gradually, our dreams start elbowing the confines of our minds, desperate to escape & we are left with two choices.

We can prioritise life’s superficial distractions & choose to reject our dreams. Keeping them hidden from the world’s prying eyes. Imprisoned by our fears.

Or we can set them free.

Release them into the universe, where like a freshly woken newborn, they can stretch their limbs & search for the kind eyes of like-minded souls who instantly open up the world’s opportunity.

Human connections are the electrical zing to our paper plans.

And while they are not magic. Their impact can be magical.

The caveat, you have to have the courage to speak those dreams out loud. Share parts of yourself you normally hide & accept the discomfort that comes with connecting with strangers.

My favourite metaphor for human connections is Brené Brown’s ~ twinkling lights:

“Ordinarily, when we reach out & share ourselves – our fears, hopes, struggles & joy – we create small sparks of connection. Our shared vulnerability creates light in normally dark places. My metaphor for this, is twinkling lights.”

~Daring Greatly

Human connection brings our dreams to life.

Each time we connect souls, we ignite another light. One connection leads to another, then another, & soon we have a strand of beautiful twinkling lights illuminating our future path & shining light on the fears which to date, have held us back.

After all, we are less afraid of what we can see.

It’s the connectivity that makes them beautiful. Each outstretched hand representative of someone who has had the vulnerability to share their story & dreams with someone who has earned the right to hear it. A person we’ve cultivated a relationship with, who can bear the weight of our story. It’s a special & privileged role for any human to play.

How do we determine who has earned that right?

Here are four crucial connection questions to consider: