Dream A Little Dream
Hello peeps, Man does the heat bring out the stench of piss and poop and garbage that is all over New York. I remember when I was a teenager living in New York City walking around with my sister on the weekends. We would come home and shower before bed; wiping off our necks was always the most interesting part. The wash cloth would be dark with the smog that had collected on us from walking around. It was pretty amazing. Luckily the air quality is better now and my neck doesn't get as dirty from walking around… I always check. Even with all of the stinky stank I do love the city and enjoy visiting as much as I can. I don't, however, enjoy the lack of recycling bins, the pissing on the walls, and the garbage everywhere. It is possible for New York to smell great, look great and still maintain its awesomeness.
What if it was cleaner in the City? What if it didn't smell like raw sewage? Imagine living somewhere that was crowded and smelly? How would you feel on a regular basis? Would you be a little on edge? Would you just get used to it? Honestly, we are very adaptable. We are able to get through what we have deemed unthinkable and live productive lives after. We are able to live in a place that is dirty and stinks and see the beauty in it. That does not mean we couldn't live in the same place where it smelled nice and was clean and not love that too. Too often we take the status quo as the way it is supposed to be and we do little if anything to improve upon it. Too often we accept mediocrity as how it is and always will be. We set our expectations low because we don't want to be disappointed when the outcome isn't what we hoped. Somewhere in our history we dreamed big and the dream never came about the way we wanted it to, or we were discouraged from dreaming by someone who had been disappointed in the past. We have been taught to be ok with things being kind of shitty. Have you ever told someone to just accept things as they are when you really meant for them to stop hoping things will get better? Acceptance is important, no change happens without acceptance of the present circumstance. Acceptance does not mean inaction. When you accept things as they are you are able to see where they could be and know the work needed to get there (or at least you can see that there is work that can be done). For example: I eat too fast. I have for a long time. My father used to ask me if I ever tasted anything. I accept this fact and now I plan on monitoring the speed at which I eat and slowing it down. I accept that I am a fast eater that wants reforming. Acceptance is awareness, awareness allows for growth.
What if we asked people how they would improve something instead of telling them to stop dreaming, wishing, wanting? What if we helped each other become actionable? What if we kept dreaming of a clean, peaceful, joyful, loving world? What if we accepted that it isn't that way now and figured out ways to move in that direction?
Have a sparkly day!!!
xo
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