A big High 5 from the great MLK.-Preface
It's been on my mind to write an entry in reference to dreams and dreamers for nearly a week now. Once I took the time to actually look at the calendar and realize that a celebration of dreamers was vastly approaching, I decided that the best way to honor and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would be to make this post on the day that has been designated his.
In preparing to write this post, I decided to do a search of quotes that MLK may have made in reference to dreams. Obviously, those can be found throughout his epic "I Have a Dream" speech, a speech so grand in scope, reach and measure that it needs no introduction nor explanation. Although you may not know the "I Have a Dream" speech word for word - or any of it's words other than it's title for that matter - you undoubtedly know of it and understand what it has meant in strengthening the fabrics that weave and intertwine America with itself and the world.
So instead of giving you something you're already familiar with, I dug a little deeper and came up with a quote from one of Dr. King's works - a book actually - that I was almost completely unaware of. I say almost because I was aware of quotes and an essay that came from this book The Measure of a Man, but was unaware of their source until earlier today. Reading the preface, back story and one of the books essays sent me directly to Amazon to place an immediate order.
The selected quote from above, and reading excerpts from one of the books essays entitled "What is a Man?" where Dr. King covers the topic of an individuals self-worth so intensely that he delves into the question of asking what the chemical compounds that actually make up the the physical being of a human body is worth on the open when monetized - about 98 cents according to figures compiled by Dr. Kings at the time of the books authoring - has left me so intrigued and garnered such a new respect for this man, that I've been compelled to write a preface - a first - to this blog entry.
With reading this excerpt and taking some time out today to study Dr. King, I realize that the life of this man and the influence that it has left on the generations of humans who have been impacted by it truly deserves to be celebrated, studied and cherished, by at all that know of it, at least one day a year.
The expression, 'the light at the end of the tunnel' is one used often to comfort oneself or another when faced with a hardship or a challenge. Understanding that there are unknown elements involved in said challenge, we liken it to walking through a tunnel in the dark. We know that there is an end, or at least we do believe that there is an end - an end to the all encompassing darkness of the tunnel - but, it remains to be seen for the time being at least.
All people, man, woman and child, live life being faced with those proverbial tunnels at every turn. But is those few, the impractical, the dreamers amongst us, who travel them most frequently. In Dr. Martin Luther Kings' quote, "Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.", I find that a hat is being tipped to those who dare to dream. Just think, those tangibles that are in front of your, the car, the career and the credit are all great things, but just think about their origin; somewhere behind each of these things is a dreamer who dared to see things different, who conceptualized and agonized over how to fit their own ideas, their vision, their dream into your life. As beautiful as the end results are, it's the actualization of the initial dream that is the big accomplishment in the large scheme of things. It's taking something from one's minds eye and converting it into a tangible is what should be celebrated. It is the unseen dream that which casts the shadow.
And in this I see the nod given to dreamers. Because as a dreamer I know that I am constantly faced with endless tunnels of shadows, utter darkness, yet I navigate them with the belief that the darkness, the shadows I see are just mere consequential refractions cast by a great, undying light.
Although getting to the other side may prove as difficult an arduous as one walking through an unlighted 8,500+ feet of NY/NJ's Holland Tunnel, a dreamers guiding light throughout their journey is always faith in themselves and their dream.
There are of course many dreamers that take the journey through the tunnel, never to emerge at the opposite end, but the energy produced by their undying faith and spirit in their beliefs remain with in these tunnels as additional glimmers of hopes for those daring enough to traverse the tunnel's unknowns in the future. Those who do in fact reach the light at the end of the tunnel go onto serve as never ending beacons of hope, evidential examples boldly stating that "Yes, it can be done!", for any and all who ever dream of following their own dreams.
The dreams of Dr. King, so boldly stated, so often remarked upon since his death at their inception - and some may even say still today - had no practical footing in the path towards realization. But whether we believe his dreams have been realized or not, it would be foolish to argue the fact that those dreams have in fact blazed a well lighted trail for all to see and travel upon, where there was once darkness. We have taken up real estate, built communities and retooled a nation on the irreversible path that this man's dreams hath wrought. And whether complete realization of these dreams have come to complete fruition or are still some miles in the distance, their is no denying the effect that they have had on us all.
So to those dreamers, who today think that what you believe may be impractical, that the vision you see are unattainable, remember the path laid for us all by great men and women such as Dr. King that prove to us that no matter how dark the tunnel, there is always light at the other end if we believe it to be. Friends, family and all relations in kind and in between will discourage you, abandon you and use tactics of any and all manners to not only separate themselves from the path of your dreams, but to separate you from it as well. But if you believe, if your dream is true, then it is your duty to follow it with a spirit charged with positive energy, a heart full of love and a disciplined mind.
The tunnel may be dark, but the light is there, and the light for which others see you in while you are on the path to completing your journey, is only a glimmer, only a shade, only a shadow of that which they do not see or understand at the time: your dreams.
The dreams of man have consistently changed the dynamics of how life as we know it is conducted. Dreams have changed the world. It is my job, your job, anyone who dares to ever dream to never, ever, ever, stop believing in their dreams.
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Dream on dreamer...
Peace
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