Are You A “Dreamer”or a “Realist”?

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I want to ask you a question. Do you perceive yourself to be more of a realist, looking at the facts of reality, or are you more the dreamer, hoping for better things? Imagining a better world?

Take a moment to think: Which of these are you?

I’m Anna Gatmon, and wherever you’re watching this, this is coming to you from the Expansive with Anna Gatmon YouTube channel.

So the other day, I was on a virtual call with a group that I meet with, and we digressed into American politics, which is inevitable these days. And one of the people in the call said, “Well, I look at the facts. I’m a realist.” And my first reaction usually when that happens means like, you’re actually telling me that I’m not a realist, that I’m a dreamer.

I’m the dreamer, and the realist knows what’s right and what’s possible, whereas the dreamer is just in fantasy land. But it stopped me in my tracks, and I suddenly had an insight, and I answered the person. I said, “You’re a realist? Well, let me give you a perspective of what reality is. You’re looking at the facts. Well, let me show you some facts. Have you ever thought of our planet, our precious, magnificent planet? That is reality, too. Look at human ingenuity, human creativity, human kindness. That’s the facts, too. That’s reality, too.”

And I want to be part of creating this glorious potential that we have on our planet, the ingenuity of humanity, the kindness and the caring of humanity for each other and for nature.

I want to collaborate with nature, and I want to create the best, the biggest potential that’s possible on our precious planet earth. And I don’t want to be dragged down and be told that I’m not a realist, that it’s not possible. I don’t want to compromise for a washed down version just because that’s all we can aspire to. We have to go with what’s possible.

This is the time. There’s no better time than right now to envision and to go for what we truly want and then make it happen, step-by-step, day-by-day, but not to give up on what’s possible for humanity and for planet earth. So, usually when we call somebody, well you’re just a dreamer, we’re saying it in a negative sense.

And when we’re saying “I’m a realist, I look at the facts,” we’re saying it in a sense where we feel like, “I know what’s right or what’s possible, and you’re just a dreamer.” And when the dreamer goes, “Oh, well, the realist, you’re just a realist. You don’t have vision; you don’t have the capacity to spread your wings and imagine something larger.”

So both of these terms are kind of the negative aspects of the realist and the dreamer. But we really need both. We need the realist and the dreamer, but we need their light attributes. We need their positive aspects. We need the dreamer in order to envision a new future and a new possibility. And we need the realist, who is more grounded, in order to execute that vision.

So we really need both. So this really speaks to one of the fundamental principles of the expansive teachings and the expansive path. And that is that you are a point of consciousness on this planet. Think about it. Your field of intelligence, that is you, your body, your being, your presence, your gifts, your talents.

And as a point of consciousness on this planet, you are a portal for spiritual wisdom and its material expression in the world through your unique personality, purpose, plans, goals, dreams, most inner longings. And so in order to fully live into this gift that you are, this point of consciousness on this planet, you want to access both the dreamer in you AND the realist in you.

You don’t just want to be one and feel superior to the other, because just dreaming and never executing and never realizing it is just hope. And it’s good to have hope, but it’s not going to create the reality you want to live in, and it’s not going to create the world that we all want to live in.

And just being a realist is just going to make you a pessimist– someone who is believing that only the lowest common denominator on the planet or in any given situation that you’re facing is the only choice. And you’re not going to burst through into something more life-affirming and more loving and caring and creative for yourself and for people who you touch.

And so, I want to close in saying that we live in unprecedented times, which really demands unprecedented gifts and capabilities and tools in order to stay centered, in order to continue thriving, and in order to share your unique gifts and talents with the people that you touch in your private and personal life as well as in your work.

When the rules changed like they have now with the COVID-19 world pandemic, everything is in shut-down slowly coming back, all the rules of how we interact both personally, socially, but also in our work are going to change. And when that happens, there is great opportunity for experimenting, for innovating, for creating new intention, for designing the world that you want to live in.

And we’re going to have to do it because this world pandemic is just the beginning of an ecological meltdown that is occurring in small stages and is going to get greater if we don’t do something about it. When worlds are collapsing, worlds are also being born.

And so this is the time for you to decide how you want to live your life. What life do you want to design for yourself in this new reality that we are living in? And how can you just travel through all of this and stay centered, and thriving, and being a force for good on our planet, and sharing your unique gifts and your talents and your medicine and your goodness with your world?

So wherever you’re watching this, leave me a comment.

Blessings.