really, it's time for better, bolder dreams

I do a reasonable amount of leadership consulting. Enough to get my kids through college and leave me room to become my highest self. I indulge in lots of continuing ed, inner strengthening, and time to get clear, so that while my client people feel muddled, i can help them feel less so, and connect them with mastery they didn't know they could achieve.

In the course of that work, a "mission, vision and values" phase is practically inevitable; and that's where the trouble starts. What troubles me, as i move from world to world (some big, fancy and established; some scrappy and well-wired; some reverent and dusty) is that people dream very small dreams. They want to be better than the guy before them. They want a nickel. They want to not starve. They want to not lose their jobs. They want to make, or - gasp! - exceed their quotas.

These are dreams that make the muses and the soul say "why bother." These are classroom dreams, served up for the teacher. These aren't dreams, these are tired hopes that the weight of soullessness will somehow be magically lifted, and the boss will get off their back.

I don't mean to judge my clients, but i am troubled because we are creating our future by investing our hopes, dreams, vision, focus, motivation and commitment into one direction or another. I see a lot of people committing themselves to a life of brown suits and fluorescent lights, with fake plants and desks made of something mysterious, covered over with bad veneers. Everything is so shallow, and so fake, that the whole environment conspires to take people down into a matrix of plodding and pressing. This, in turn, requires copious amounts of coffee in the morning to jumpstart, and alcohol in the evening to wash off the tension.

Meanwhile, our greatest ambition has been to put a man on the moon. If we can put a man on the moon, can we please begin to serve nutritious food to the 150 million or so kids in school? Can we liberate learning from the desk and the multiple choice form? Can we teach financial planning and conflict resolution and farming and tracking skills? Can we allow room for art and openness? Can we, please?

I dream of a day when people dare to set their sights higher. the irony of this whole dilemma is that if you dare to set your sights higher, it is actually liberating. People feel fresh, and alive, and are willing to say "yeah!" or, "Hell yeah!" if you give them an idea that really pleases them. inspiration IS energizing, vitalizing. we need dreams that inspire us. please.