Dare to Dream Again
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about this wonderfully revitalizing activity—escaping. At first, it may sound somewhat negative, but after deeper contemplation, I realized there always comes a time in our lives when we need to escape something. It’s only human. Whether it’s getting away from spending too much time with family or escaping the exhaustion of pressing deadlines, sometimes we just need to be somewhere we can feel like ourselves again. Escape is good and it’s necessary, especially when the world, the external one and our own internal one, is in complete chaos. It’s a return to that place where we can breathe again and reconnect with who we are—THE place where we can start dreaming again.
Escaping what?
Sometimes, in those dark moments of despair and self-pity, I indulge in seeing myself as a refugee from Western civilization. But then I remember that my struggles are mostly first-world problems and recall the millions and possibly billions of others who have much bigger worries. So I get my shit together and consider how I can do something that might change something else for the better. But before taking action, I need to understand why I’m feeling like a refugee in the first place—an overwhelming idea. Where to start? All our problems seem so interconnected and complex. But then, I found this article that gave me some clues:
“Late capitalism,” in its current usage, is a catchall phrase for the indignities and absurdities of our contemporary economy, with its yawning inequality and super-powered corporations and shrinking middle class.
Absurdities, yes! I am escaping absurdities!
So much of the world has become absurd, don’t you think? If humanity were just one person, it would probably feel very ashamed of itself. But I promised myself not to linger on the negative and turn the problem into an opportunity. If I assume that these absurdities are simply the consequences of humanity’s ignorance then a positive response to those ignorances is creativity. Instead of destruction, we challenge ourselves to build something better. But to make the best out of what we have we need to rekindle the dreams we once had. Escaping is oké for a little while, as long as we dare to come back to reality.
It’s time for a renaissance
A long time ago, roughly between 500 and 1000 AD, the Dark Ages were a period associated with war, ignorance, and pandemics such as the Black Death.. A lot has improved since then (knock on wood), but it’s also fair to say that we are collectively going through the dark ages of the 21st century. 1000 years later, wars are still being fought, the climate crisis is a clear sign of ignorance and the pandemic, well... On a more positive note, that period of darkness was followed by a rebirth, which the French proudly coined Renaissance.
Socrates said that ‘wisdom requires possessing a type of humility manifested in the awareness of one’s own ignorance’. I am quite positive that the worldly mess we find ourselves in is a great catalyst for humility and eventually a rebirth. I’m not a scientist, but I do know that all systems regulate themselves over time—our planet, our bodies and even our crises—and that everything is constantly in an evolutionary process.
We need humility to first reconnect with a mindful presence, which I bluntly called escape, to then mindfully respond with a Renaissance. But don’t take my word for it.
The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.
—Alan Watts
I believe this is the time for re-invention. First of ourselves and then of the world itself. No better way to start than by looking at what makes us feel more human in the first place.
Art as therapy
I am fascinated by how people end up doing things they love for the most unexpected reasons. Shira Gold is an artist that makes images to evoke her emotions.
Mired in grief over the death of her mother and coping with undiagnosed ADHD, Vancouver photographer Shira Gold found a pathway through the personal crisis by exploring art's intersection with mental health and well-being.
I became a photographer more out of deep need than desire. It just happened to be the one activity that served as therapy, helping me cope with my own struggles in life (ADHD, restlessness, mental health issues, hypersensitivity, etc.). Photography gives me an excuse to escape into the world and follow my curiosities. When I’m exploring with my camera I’m drawn into the present moment, I’m challenged to start noticing the subtle changes in the weather and the light and invited to look for the tiny miracles that are continuously happening all around us.
I believe that, at its core, art is a collective practice that establishes an emotional connection between the artist and the people interacting with the work. Art doesn’t need to be pretentious. It’s such a simple human need, without it we are senseless robots. With the wisdom of Stella Adler: when life beats down and crushes the soul, art reminds us that we have one.
Dream again
Wise people will tell you that ‘life is fundamentally simple, yet we make it so damn complicated.’ It certainly applies to me. Maybe I simply forget what matters. I forget what makes me smile in the first place and I’m constantly lured into distracting escapades of modern life. For me to thrive in this one crazy but precious life, I needed to find something to remind me of what matters. Since I’ve embarked on the creative path I’ve re-discovered a lust for life. I had to walk through fires, fall into dark and deep wells of misery and disaster but there was always someone or something to lift me back up. Slowly I crawled back into the light by holding tight onto my dreams. Never thought I would have found them so deep down in the depths.
My idea of joie de vivre is found in a life of freedom, fear and change. They are like the three legs of the chair I’m sitting on. Hard to balance, but take one away and I collapse to the ground. Add a 4th leg and life becomes too comfortable and my seat too rigid. I simply need some room to wiggle. It’s a wobbly but fulfilling life of seeking and nourishing systems of thought and feeling that lie beyond the constraints of societal norms. I need to get off the secure path and conquer something that demands a lot of work and risk. An uncertain path that invites me to walk along with my fears so they can guide me through revelation, confusion and discovery.
I’m never alone on this pilgrimage. I’m surrounded by kindred spirits with different perspectives but shared experiences around our common dreams. Generosity is the trait of all the great people who have transformed this world. It’s the only real power that sustains us. We not only find it inside ourselves but also in the care and company of others.
The questions I constantly need to be asking myself are: What do I want to do with my life? What kind of power do I care about exercising? What do I want to manifest in the world?
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
—excerpt from The Raven, a poem by Edgar Allan Poe