Live Life as You Dreamed It

My brother, Rayburn, the dreamcatcher gift giver; and me.

When 3 or more things converge in my life, I’m called to stop to pay attention to them.

The first happened a couple of weeks ago when my brother gave me a belated holiday gift – a dreamcatcher. He purchased it at the First Nations Cultural Center in Whistler, BC where he and his wife complete 2 weeks of skiing every year. The dreamcatcher is representative of the decades-long work of members of the Squamish and Liİwat Nations – the indigenous people of the unceded territories now known as Whistler. Mine is purple and lavender and hangs in my office on the handle of my window looking out on the sometimes-blue skies of the Pacific Northwest.

Dreamcatchers originated with the Ojibwe (Chippewa) people and were adopted by neighboring nations. Generally hung over a bed, they are considered positive symbols that filter out bad dreams, allowing only positive dreams to pass through to those who slumber beneath them. While some consider the mass production and sale of dreamcatchers by non-Natives to be a form of cultural appropriation or a misuse of a sacred tradition, I hold mine in total reverence to its source and power of bringing goodness into my life and work.

The second was the color of the dreamcatcher - purple. Our mother’s favorite color. A color rooted in royalty and nobility that symbolizes creativity, wisdom and spirituality. The balance of red that stimulates energy, with blue that signals calming stability, generates ambition, power and magic. Thank you, Mom. I’ll take all of that!

The third came from a segment of a recent airing of CBS Sunday Morning. The actor, Jacob Elordi, who played “The Creature”, was being interviewed. A whopping 28 years of age, he’s been nominated for his first Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He said since the age of 15, he’s known that he wanted to be an actor. When asked would there ever be anything else he’d rather be or do, he responded, “No. I’m living the life I always dreamed of.”

And there you have it. The trifecta! Life speaking to me in the midst of great change underway in our nation, on our streets and in our hearts. The dreamcatcher was a reminder to remember the dreams I’ve had, and still have, for the life I’m living.

Those dreams keep me motivated to do the work I do. I wanted to solve big problems, and I do. I wanted to build big things, and I do. I wanted to be a leader, and I am. And the dreamcatcher reminded me that there’s more of that to do.

On this Sunday morning, I’m taking that note from my brother, a dreamcatcher, my Mom and Jacob.