Every philosopher, no matter how small a part of the journey they have traveled in the pursuit of wisdom, is characterized by their ability to dream.
Dreaming, in this case, is not a result of sleep. It means building an active imagination, similar to a dream state, but with a wakeful consciousness. Such imagination enables us to see things that are beyond everyday tasks and beyond the present moment. It helps us break down time barriers and unveil the “veil” created by the objects surrounding us.
Dreaming is a way to see progress in things, to see them as they will be in the future. Above all, it is a way to see ourselves acting appropriately, so that changes can be effective.
Dreaming means constantly feeling a mismatch with the world, not out of pure whim or ordinary dissatisfaction arising from insufficiently cultivated feelings. This sense of mismatch is inherent in a philosopher who constantly seeks a better world and is not satisfied with what they have achieved. It is a healthy and natural urge to constantly strive for improvement. The ambition of someone who understands the future as evolution and wishes to actively collaborate with it. That means wanting more and better for oneself and for other people, for today and for tomorrow.
To dream means to free oneself from the feeling of “ordinariness” that burdens us when life seems reduced to basic survival needs. It is not bad to seek adequate means of survival. What is bad is to “lose oneself” in the means and lose sight of the goals. When the means take precedence, then ordinariness gains favorable ground for action. When goals are the main determinants, then the brilliance of striving to achieve them is born.
There are those who confuse the ability to dream with aimless wandering and indulging in thoughts and feelings without direction and order in the search for everything and anything, when one is more running away from reality than trying to change it.
Wandering belongs to weak and disorganized minds. It is an excellent opportunity to waste time without achieving any results.
To dream, we must organize our minds, ideas, what we believe, what we desire, what we feel, and what we expect. This is the process that follows settling and expressing our deepest values. what is known to us and what we still need to discover, what we can do and what we still need to learn. Simply put, we need to be philosophers. That’s when dreams gain the power to turn into reality.
We need to ensure that dreams reach the visible plane, that results are visible and that someone or many can benefit from them.
Where is the center of every individual?
The answer to this question is relative because, in addition to the archetypal idea of a center that is like an immovable lighthouse in the ebb and flow of life, everyone possesses their own center where their own consciousness resides. It is one thing to “imagine” the center in elevated spiritual dimensions, and quite another to discover the actual everyday center in order to try to elevate it a little towards the higher.
What characterizes our center? It is the height of consciousness.
If consciousness is almost never separated from the body and its demands, then it is evident that, in that case, the center is located in the body. If consciousness is primarily busy with everyday worries, accompanied by psychological and mental disturbances, the center is located in emotions or, at best, in confused thinking. If we manage to concentrate on reading or learning, the center will be found in the ideas we adopt. If we intensely experience some mystical experience, the center will shift to the realm of pure mind or intuition.
In short: as human beings, we do not possess a fixed center. Therefore, our task is to establish that ideal central point for our present moment of evolution. We need to discover how to keep consciousness centered and thus avoid the almost constant oscillations we endure.
Enter light into the shadows
Every now and then, a dark period arises, heavy and gloomy. Although we strive to see a way out, darkness surrounds us. We fall into despair and everything we do starts off badly, even before we begin.
These are our special nights, in which we also need to overcome. No one will do it for us in the shadows bring in the light. Let’s learn not to expect solutions that come from outside.
If there is light out there, it means that there is also light within us, in some unknown corner. We are not special creatures in the world: we possess the same thing that exists in the Universe: light and darkness, and we also possess enough energy to create one or the other.
Turn on your light. Turn on a smile, even if it seems forced at first. Turn on the desire to learn something new or something you’ve never understood before.
Turn on the ability to listen to those around you.
Turn on the ability to observe carefully everything that is happening around you; you will discover unexpected wonders. Turn on hope for tomorrow and, moreover, hope for today. Look with joy at what you do and do it so well that you are satisfied. Don’t let yourself be embittered by what others do or don’t do; focus on your own area and you will see that others are not doing as poorly as you initially thought. Dive into the adventure with a sense of excitement. Do not entertain thoughts of defeat; only open to success in your mind. Recognize how important your destiny is, no matter how humble it may be, for then you will be able to change your own life and even the history you are a part of. Because that is when you started winning in the dark.