29/07/2021
We must learn to take better care of the brave and hopeful within our world who choose to dream of a brighter and bigger future.
History is easy to carry, fragments and reflections of it’s characters, settings, and conflicts are everywhere. The story of what tomorrow can be is heavy to carry alone within a sea of cynics.
Even if we don’t agree with the story someone carries, we must celebrate their courage to choose hope.
The cynic within us mistakes his cynicism for realism. He wants us to discard the hopeful things that touch our wounds and instead settle for what is consistent with his lower expectations.
When we hear about someone’s hopes and then notice within us a cynical urge to roll our eyes or to pull down their dreams, it’s important that we explore what that might truly be about for us.
We might not choose to offer celebration and support of someone’s entire idea or plan. We might choose to offer critical feedback, challenge, or ask questions. We might choose to share concerns and skepticism. The important piece is that we do some internal exploring before we jump into being a dream crusher. It’s possible that our cynicism might be coming from an unconscious wounded place. We might be unknowingly seeking to defend and protect that wound.
Could it be that there is a lonely and timid part of us that wants to believe? Could it be that we’re afraid of that part? I know I sometimes am. If I listen to that voice it can sometimes feel reckless and it often carries a fear of being deeply disappointed. It’s wildly vulnerable to lean into hope. Cynicism can feel safe, but it shrinks and imprisons us to the past.
I wish you the courage to stay curious about patterns and to maybe believe in a dream that feels too big to be real…maybe you’re one of the characters that are meant to build the bigger world that holds that dream within its larger story.
