Live your ideas!
“I decided that I would make my life my argument.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
Try this and let me know how it works for you. Shout out this New Year’s rallying cry to your family and friends:
“Let’s live our ideas!”
No good, right? We can’t imagine what it means, and it doesn’t have that special... something. That inspiring, poetic ring, like “Live your dreams!” So you probably won’t hear it in a speech, see it raised on a placard, or passed around on Twitter.
And that’s too bad. Because we’re living in challenging times and we’re erroneously arousing the wrong psyche. A highly spirited zeitgeist of separateness, self-interest and striving.
I’m being quite sincere. For what is a dream? It’s a vision of someone’s or some group’s imagined future. How things ought to be: safe, secure and fully satisfied. Happily ever after (for me or for us).
A dream is a head trip and a dangerous illusion, because life isn’t about accumulation, achievement and “arriving.” And it’s not about alluring conjecture. It’s about messy, dynamic relationships. It’s about learning, growth and connection, right here, right now.
Stop living your private dreams. Stop fetishizing your future. It sullies the beauty of humanity and robs the richness of the moment. Instead, create a better now by living your ideas... today.
Don’t dream about becoming someone. Bring who you are to life... today. Don’t dream of becoming an artist. Make your ideas tangible... today. Don’t dream about being a successful executive or entrepreneur. Push forward with your ideas to improve people’s lives... today. Don’t dream about a new world order oriented towards compassion, tolerance and love. Live those ideas from your inside out, with everyone you encounter... today.
The world is full of bitter nostalgists and frustrated dreamers of tomorrow making speeches, waving placards, and creating memes. Everyone is busy pontificating and moralizing as we continue to exploit nature, and each other. What we desperately need are more inspired relationships... today.
And what of the future? It’s glaringly simple. The future emerges from the ideas we actualize together. For all our dreams, we only have what we do... today.
Stay passionate!