We Need Dreams

Here is another poem by Langston Hughes about dreams.

Dreams
by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Dreams make our lives purposeful. Without them, we find our lives are meaningless.

The speaker in this poem encourages the reader to "hold fast to dreams." We are told not to let dreams die or go. Two metaphors are used to describe life without dreams. The speaker tells us if we cannot dream our lives will be like that of a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly, and like a barren field, frozen with snow.

The speaker does not tell us why this is the case. He does not explain why dreams, passions, aspirations, or hopes are so powerful. Nor does the speaker tell us why we might not hold onto our dreams.

I believe that sometimes we become discouraged and let a dream go. If we give up again and again, we will hope for nothing, and this is not a healthy state of mind. There are times we need to give up, but we have to consider this carefully. Maybe, another dream has ignited within us.

When we are pursuing a goal and come against an obstacle, we actually learn the most as we overcome this obstacle. These critical points in any journey are actually the most meaningful. 

We might not be able to achieve everything we set out to do. Failure is in inevitable, and acceptable. What we learn about ourselves and our surroundings when we fail allows us to understand ourselves and the world around us.

Why do we need dreams? In many ways, what we hope for is who we are. Most of us get up in the morning knowing that we have several things to get done, and some of these things may bring us closer to achieving goals that we really value.

Passions, dreams or goals keep our blood pumping, and keep us from flatlining. While we do not need to have one purpose or passion, we do need to have passions and dreams that make our lives meaningful.

Passion with Punch

You may have looked at my blog entries, and thought what is wrong with the person, can she not be positive about passion. Rest assured, I am not a passion killjoy.

Here Nike uses a famous Langston Hughes poem, which is very short and powerful.

Harlem

Related Poem Content Details

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

What happens to a dream deferred? 

      Does it dry up 

      like a raisin in the sun? 

      Or fester like a sore— 

      And then run? 

      Does it stink like rotten meat? 

      Or crust and sugar over— 

      like a syrupy sweet? 

      Maybe it just sags 

      like a heavy load. 

      Or does it explode?

If this is what your passion feels like, "run with it." Sorry, I know this is a bad pun.

However, I understand that some people have amazing dreams and gifts. These people know their live's purpose and are genuinely connected with it. For those of you, who are fortunate enough to have a dream, I believe you need to follow it, while it follows you.

The poem "Harlem" or "Dream Deferred" speaks to what could happen if we postpone following our hearts.  The poem works using extended metaphor.

   The speaker begins by asking, "What happens to a dream deferred?" (Nice use of alliteration Lanston Hughes.)

  

    Personally, I believe that in some cases it is may be okay to defer a dream. However, in other cases it may not work out. Let's take the case of an Olympic athlete. A break in training could lead to a serious set back.  

   

    It is important to be mindful of the disadvantages of delaying pursuing a dream. Sometimes life happens and we need put things off. And in many cases, there is a cost to deferring our dream. It may be big and it may be small.

    "Harlem" looks at the bigger losses associated with not following one's dream. Passion and following one's passion appears as a romanticized notion in the poem.

    The imagery in the poem is strong. When we defer a dream it may "fester like a sore," or "stink like rotten meat." And, yes, of course, it could explode, but remember, it may not. However, as suggested earlier, I do see some risk in doing this.

   And so what happens to a dream that is not deferred, when passion is pumping through your veins, and you go with it?  I believe that this is probably the best scenario, and if you can, you should always follow your dreams, as they follow you.

Is Passion Over Rated?

If you google "passion quotes" and click images, the page will quickly populate with quotes singing the praises of passion.

So I guess I just wont pay my bills, because I do not feel passionately about this. And if you are student, make sure that you only do your homework when you feel passionately about it. Is this good advice?  The next time you take out the garbage remember to do it with passion...or not.

I prefer Nike's "Just do it." There things that we do everyday that are routine, mundane, and necessary. If we have the opportunity to do something that we are passionate about or to do something with passion once a day, we are fortunate and privileged.

Some people are living out their dreams, and these people inspire us to do what we love, but I think it is important to remember that those people living "the dream" are a minority.

Okay, do you see a problem with this?  Yes, some exceptionally fortunate people will do this, but for most people, in my opinion, this is not a realistic goal.

As a sidebar, I would like to point out that I like teaching, and find it rewarding. Sometimes, I even do it passionately, but it is hard for me to mark papers with passion, no matter how brilliantly they are written.

I am actually one of the lucky ones. I have a job that I like, and not only that my job allows my inner multipotentialite to thrive. I have taught Special Education and English Language Learning at both elementary and secondary levels. Furthermore, I have taught Math and Social Studies at the elementary level. At the secondary level, I have taught Journalism, Media Arts, Yearbook Production, and English. I even taught Foods and Nutrition. And, now I am teaching Independent Studies.

However, once upon a time I worked in retail, and the moments felt like hours. You would be right if you said passion was not my pay check in this case. (By the way, quote writers, pay check is two words.) You might argue that I should have put more passion into my sales job.  After all, we are supposed to do everything with passion or no do it.

Am I making passion synonymous with a positive attitude? Possibly. And it is possible that if we polish up our attitudes, we do get more out of what we perceive as a negative situation. It is just sometime, I run out of polish, and fail to shine.

And let's face if we did everything with passion, how would we know what we are passionate about because everything would be shiny and good?

Is passion over rated? What are your thoughts on these quotes?

Too Many Passions

In this TEdxBend talk, Emilie Wapnik speaks about being a Mulitpotentialite, and how this beneficial in today's society. A Multipotenitalite is someone who has many creative pursuits and passions/interests, which may vary as one becomes skilled in one pursuit, and then moves on to another, and then another, and another...I am sure you get the picture.

Wapnik says, "I began noticing this pattern in myself, where I would dive in and become invested in an area, and become all consumed, and I would get pretty good at whatever it was, and then I would hit this point where I would start to get bored."

Wapnik explains that she would try to persist with this interest, but we all know that boredom has away of killing passion, and so Wapnik would soon find another interest, which she would learn about, and then become uncommitted to this interest because it no longer challenged her. The pattern would repeat again and again.

Does this sound like you? I know that I am a Multipotentialite. I have always been a Multipotentialite. Wapnik believes that some of us are wired this way. In my opinion, it is possible that most of us are wired this way.

Being a Mulipotentialite has its challenges in a culture that "romanticizes the notion of the narrowly focused life. It is the idea of destiny or the one true calling. The idea that we have one great thing to do during our time on earth. And you need to figure out what that thing is and devote your life to it."

There is no doubt that some will excel and specialize in only one area much in the way that surgeons do. I would venture to guess that surgeons have other interests, other passions. Perhaps we all exist somewhere on the spectrum from single passion focused to multi passion focused.

If you are still not convinced that it is okay to be a Mulitpotentialite, Wapnik points out that we have three "super powers." We are able to synthesize our ideas from different subjects to create something new. Secondly, we are rapid learners, who tend to dive into and immerse ourselves in new areas of learning. We are used to being beginners, because we are often beginners, who are not afraid to try new things. Thirdly, we are adaptable, and can easily morph into being one thing to another.

"Fast Company Magazine," reports Wapnik, "identified adaptability as the most important skill to develop in order to thrive in the 21st century.' This is because these are times of great change.

Wapnik concluces with telling listeners to "embrace your inner wiring whatever that may be."

Does following your passion make you entitled?

In this Tedx talk, Eunice Hii describes how she was leading others to follow their passions, when she read an article in the Harvard Business Review, which led her to seriously question what she was doing.

Hii, who is part of generation Y (born between 1983 - 2000), was shocked to read that she was part of "worst generation ever." Why?  Well, according to the author of the article, Generation Y is lazy, pampered and entitled. Yes, entitled because this generation has been repeatedly told to follow their passions.

I will interject here. As an educator, I have worked closely with generation Y. Students who want to get ahead seem to intuitively know that they will have to work hard. In my experience, this is true no matter what generation one was born into. I know people my age (boomers) who have entitlement issues.

When Hii read this article, she had already committed years to a project called the Passion Project, which she designed with another university student. The philosophy behind the Passion Project was getting people to follow what they are passionate about, while making a difference in the community.

As she reflected seriously upon this article, Hii came to a logical conclusion: Following one's passion and entitlement are two different things. They are "mutually exclusive." She believes that Generation Y "can follow their passions and become a better generation."

Furthermore, Hii believes that Generation Y can follow their passions, while working hard, and at the same time, they must understand that their passions may not be their jobs.

Hii exerts, "We can follow our passions even if we do not necessarily know what they are."

While this statement seems nonsensical, I actually agree, because I think we have a rough idea of what our passions are, and sometimes we "know" something in our hearts before we know it in our heads.

Hii speaks about Julia Child, the legendary chef, who brought French cuisine to America. Child did not learn to cook or recognize her passion for cooking until she was in her mid-forties, and is probably an example of someone who followed her passions without knowing exactly what they were.

"We can follow our passions but we have to remember that passion is a privilege," states Hii.

I could not agree more with the statement. We have a lot to be thankful for because we are not living in a developing country, trying just to survive. When our needs for food, clothing, shelter, and safety our met, we can step out into the world and make a difference if we choose.

Hii believes that "it doesn't mean anything to follow our passions if it isn't in the service of others."

While I immensely respect the notion of serving others, I am not sure that it is always necessary when following one's passions. When I think of people who are artists, writers or musicians, I think of them practising their craft while they alone, not knowing how the rest of the world receive it when they are ready to share it. Any work of art is a labour of love. Sometimes, artists need time to work on what they love before sharing their creations. I suppose this true for all types of studying.

Hii quotes theologian Frederick Buechner saying that, "Your vocation is where your passions meet. the world's greatest needs."

Maybe...The idea is rather lofty... something to hope for or the best possible outcome that one finds when considering their passions and their communities needs.

When all is said and done, I suppose we should always be mindful of how following our passions impact the communities that we live in. We should understand that there are different ways of "serving" and that we are all part of a great mosaic.

Challenge: Take Baby Steps...

Take baby steps with big intentions. This is a challenge when most of us want to reach our goals instantaneously. We live in the days of instant gratification.

However, with particularly goals that are difficult to reach quickly, let' say learning a language, it probably is the best way to go.

One indication that taking this approach is necessary is feeling that we are overwhelmed, and that our goal is not obtainable. If we give up, we will never know whether we could have reached that goal or not. If we try and do not succeed, we have learned something important, and perhaps we will tune up our goal and change it into something more obtainable. As long as we learn, we do not fail, so let's stand up straight, and take baby steps with big intentions.

Don't Know What Your Passion is Don't Worry

This is Terri Trespicio giving a Tedx Talk. She starts of strong  by stating, "There is a dangerously limiting idea at the heart of everything we believe about success in general. And it is that you have a singular passion and your job is to find it and pursue it to the exclusion of all other ideas."

She speaks about the "cultural imperative" to choose your passion, pointing out that, "Passion is not a plan." One of the mistakes that we have made is to forget that passion is a feeling that will change again and again.

Trespicio goes on to say that this limiting idea is often present when we speak to teenagers, particularly those in Grade 12, about what they plan on doing with their lives. Many teenagers, if not most, cannot answer the question, "What is your passion?'

Let's be honest. Most people cannot answer the question. If the question is restated, and one is asked, what there passions are, more people can speak to the question. This is because most people have found they have more than one passion. I can answer the question, but I have considerable life experience, and have an opportunity to try many things. Trespicio believes that we come to know our passions by letting passion follow us.

"To live a life of value and meaning , you don't follow your passion, your passion follows you," Trespicio astutely asserts.

Welcome to Passions with Purpose. On this blog, I will explore the nature of "passion," and how to share your passion with others thereby giving it purpose.