One of my fears is to chase a dream with great focus and dedication, have it come through, and then realize: ‘Bugger! This isn’t what I want at all!’
Dreams are so important.
We need dreams well beyond our edges to guide our choices and being.
To have something far beyond our sight and senses to reach toward.
To play in between manifest and impossibility.
I live in a city and I dream of a forested-cottage life. It isn’t very far out on the surface, as I work with native and indigenous plants and have reasonable understanding of soil, food courses and plant medicine.
Recently, I was at a forested-cottage for the weekend. I had been there before so I was familiar with the lake and the land.
We had a great windstorm several weeks ago.
In the city I live in, many neighbourhoods lost power and internet for a day or so. And as soon as the wind died down, city workers came to remove fallen trees and fix power-lines. Within 3 days, all us urban-dwellers forgot it even happened.
But land doesn’t forget.
Upon arrival at the cottage driveway, I was greeted by a 200-year old maple tree completely uprooted. I later learned that over 1000 trees fell during that storm, just on this particular patch of land.
So, what does one do when faced with over 1000 felled trees?
Through the weekend, as I walked the land, none of the trails I walked along last summer existed. The ‘new trails’ were made so that people could get to denser areas and cut and pull out the larger tree trunks.
From what the lady of the land (the owner) shared with me, I thought most of the hard work was done, since the larger tree trucks were all cleared and she was making her way through the roots currently facing the sky.
But apparently not. One of her fears was the canopy of all the trees, not just on her land but on everyone else’s too. These are massive dead branches, much thinner, but densely intertwined with living plants and trees.
Think of the entire branch system of a 200-year old tree, and attempting to cut through it by hand (not a chain-saw) on a cold windy autumn day. A lot of these canopies fell in dense parts of the forest, with deep squishy mud, only accessible by foot.
With limited allowance for clearing here, these canopies get covered under Winter snow and come Spring, they dry out completely - a fire waiting to happen.
Forest fires are a reality in my region. They’ve been particularly bad over the last 5 years – whether caused by people or an act of nature.
So, the reality of a lot of people living in this part of the land, they know their houses and lives are currently lying very close to large amounts of kindling.
The truth is, I had a delightful time at the cottage. It was off-grid and by a lake and surrounded by brave trees that lived through the storm. I got to talk to the lady of the land and, most importantly, listen to her story.
But there was also this reality of Land Stewardship that came through.
I realized that it’s all well and good that I have a dream, but right now, my dream of forest-cottage loving was only serving me. I would be healthier, happier and less stressed perhaps being away from urban-stresses.
One of the last things the lady of the land said to me before she left was that this land and building her home on it had been her childhood dream. She had purchased the land young, and saved money to build a house on it by living in a tent through the Summer and a trailer through the Winter. Her babies were born in this house. Her farm was here. And she had always wanted to care for a little patch of forest by a lake. She was living her dream realized and of course there was tremendous grief at the loss during the storm.
She was not a victim of the storm. Like caring for a sick loved one, her now-realized dream seemed to give her courage and amp up her endurance as she spent 16-hour days working on her land and give what she could, for also receives.
I realized then, that the power of dreams lies beyond the individual. Where more than just the dreamer benefit from the realization of the dream.
In the case of this land – I benefitted, so did everyone else who has ever and will ever visit this cottage. The forest itself and all sentient life also benefit from the love and care provided, even in stormy times. I like to think that countless other benefit too, because we never truly get to know how much our realized dreams impact others.
I am painfully delighted in this mixture of experiences.
My fear of ‘no longer wanting my dream’ is being replaced with a different understanding. Like, the simple joy of knowing I am resilient and focused in making my dreams come true; that I’m not alone; that I can share in the dream of others as they can in mine; that reciprocity makes my world go round; and even more that I cannot articulate at this time.
It is a powerful thing to be energized by your dream and the making of it.
I wonder what immense joy we can realize with collective dreams!
So, what do you dream?