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You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
—“Imagine” by John Lennon
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While I may not be as eloquent as Martin Luther King, Jr., or as brave as our Founding Forefathers, nor as visionary as a shaman medicine man, I, too, have a dream…
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I have a dream…
that we will live in a land where one can park his bicycle anywhere and leave it there without a lock and it will be there when he gets back. That bicycle locks will no longer be made and any existing ones will be melted down so they can be used for something productive.
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I have a dream…
that we will make the tire that doesn’t wear out, the battery that lasts forever, the pantyhose that doesn’t run, and all other items that we already have the capability to create but aren’t due to the overwhelming desire for profit, and focus all that energy not into putting a dollar into our individual pockets but creating a better world for the collective trouser.
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I have a dream…
where no one can pass someone homeless, hungry, or just down on their luck without feeling not an obligation, but a need, to assist this person in anyway she can.
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I have a dream…
that one can travel anywhere, be it to another town, another state, another country, or another planet without having to furnish any permit, passport, or other form of identification in order to exercise our God-given rights. In my dream, no one has any claim to a piece of land, parking space, or country and would actually take pleasure in having others enjoy that area.
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I have a dream…
where everyone is doing the work that their passions have led them to pursue and not just something to pay the bills or buy nice things. It will be encouraged to pursue your artistic and creative endeavors and we will all want everyone to express their passions and will feel unsatisfied unless they are allowed that opportunity.
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I have a dream…
where we don’t rely on chemicals or drugs to provide health but that we rely on the answers from love and nature. No one will be charged for receiving treatment because it will be everyone—the doctor and the neighbor’s—ultimate desire for everyone to be able to live optimally according to his desires. Since we will all be neighbors, no one—be they next door or in the next country—will be left out from our loving wish list of health and prosperity.
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I have a dream…
where families rely less on television and Game Boys to pass the time and more on discourse and discussion. Cellular phones and MP3 players will not be a source of self-absorption but something to remind us of where we came from and how dysfunctional our communication has grown.
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I have a dream…
where the best present a parent can give her child is the gift of her time and love. Where a child will run to her mother before she runs to a gift-wrapped box containing a present. Where we will see the wisdom in children and they will help us stay true to the wisdom we have gained and clarify the wisdom we have misunderstood.
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I have a dream…
where majority doesn’t rule but where each individual’s voice is heard. We don’t discard 499 voices out of 1000 because 501 people decided a certain way. Where we won’t rest until we find that majority only “rules” when the majority consists of everyone.
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I have a dream…
where the only label we have is that of “a perfect soul” and not others based on color, religion, sex or which sex with whom we prefer to share intimacy, profession, economics, social status, or any other item used to separate and not unite.
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I have a dream…
where we will realize that animals are sentient beings, here to live out their lives to their utmost, and not here for us to use for our personal pleasures and desires. Respect will be given to all sentient beings and not just our fellow man.
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I have a dream…
where no one will ever forget that they are perfect, where no one will ever go hungry, where everyone and everything is treated with respect, be they human, animal, insect, plant, dirt or rock. Where everyone sees this dream as not something to wish for but something they cannot live without. My dream is that we work at this dream and make it a reality, and whether we achieve it in our lifetime or not we won’t stop striving for it and we will be just as satisfied knowing that our children will be living it even if we never do. And in my dream, our regular state of being is beyond any dream imaginable and so we no longer spend our time dreaming of the way it could be, but instead we spend it appreciating the way it is.
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I wrote this piece about three or four years ago. I didn’t change any words, except where pronouns were a little off. It is now 2010 and it seems my dreams are still yet to manifest. But my dreams will never be thrown to the scrap heap of surrender.
Most of us have stopped dreaming because we have been told somewhere along the line that dreams are not practical. I would beg to differ. I think what is not “practical” is to continue living like we have, with no heart, no soul and no respect for others or ourselves.
I have one more dream to add today to my list:
I have a dream…
where I once again have my love in my arms…and I hold her and kiss her and never let her go.
May all your dreams come true. And they can, if you don’t hold onto them and believe that all is possible.
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REFLECTION:
What are your dreams and when did you stop dreaming them?
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MEDITATION:
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-up2xyRvN2U&feature=related
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech
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Beautiful. Thank you for reminding me of my personal dreams that I’ve stopped believing in. At a point in my life, I stopped believing in my dreams because reality had a way of slapping me in the face and shattering the dream that I felt I was living. But I realize that they matter and I should not give them up. Thank you again…
Reality is what we make it. We have been deceived into thinking that “reality” is the misery that the manipulative have created and the weak have followed. It is not. I wouldn’t even call that “reality.” I would call that Hell. And just like the Hell created by the priests, it too is made up.