Permission to Dream Again
Blistering heat. Temps are above normal…and that’s saying something since I live in South Florida. It’s typically 92 degrees at this time of year but it’s been in the upper 90’s with the heat index much higher. So, it’s hot. I mean really hot! But the heat does not deter me from already thinking about the holidays. Every August, my internal clock says that fall is right around the corner. The sunlight looks different. School begins. The days are starting to get shorter. It’s during this time of the year, that I start dreaming about the next, 2024. What will it bring? For many people, they dream about a spouse? Children? New business venture? Weight loss? Financial increase? Restored relationships?
But what if you’re not like most people. What if your dreaming button is stuck and no dreams are growing in the garden of your soul. What then? As Christ-followers, we are a reflection of Him, and He dreamed up this whole thing! He is creative and so, therefore, are we. We are created to create and to create, a dream or vision must first exist.
My whole life, I’ve been a dreamer. As a little girl, I would stand on the picnic table in our backyard, and sing at the top of my lungs into a brush that I imagined as my mic. I dreamed of being a singer. I’ve had many dreams since then. Some have come to pass and many haven’t but the flow of creativity and dreaming continued, and then the spicket dried up. No dreaming. No creating. Just numb. But how? How did creativity and dreaming cease? What caused it?
There was a season of grief, intense loss, and pain that I went through when I stopped dreaming. Grief and heartache will do that. It can render you “dreamless.” Disappointments, broken relationships, failures, health challenges, life’s struggles, and busyness can cap the creative flow and dreams cease. Here is how my flow returned, and perhaps it will encourage you to dream again.
There is so much to write because I learned so much during the season where I was not creating and dreaming. Paramount to all, I learned the value of keeping my heart pure and my relationships clear. When my heart was full of hurt, I couldn’t move forward and I was stuck. I sabotaged myself, and capped my ability to love God and love others well. Learning how to let His presence reveal Himself to me in a fresh way, keeping my eyes on Him, and only Him, helped me to rest and begin the process of walking in freedom; emotional and spiritual freedom. Freedom in your soul softens the soil of your soul and dreams begin to organically spring forth again. So, give yourself the gift of slowing down, learn to be a human being not a human doing, rest, sit in His presence, sensitize your eyes and ears to Him and watch the springs of creativity and dreaming begin again.
For His Glory,
Julia