Dream free

This week we are going to inaugurate the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. It is an exciting and stressful time. The terrible news of our economy is making headlines daily, companies are closing, friends are losing jobs, everyone is watching their money. We are hoping for good things, but some seem to be giving up, or having to give up, their dreams. So, we wait with anticipation, and anxiety, as a new president takes office.

In August last year, the presidential race was really gearing up. Much ado was made of Barack Obama’s being nominated for president on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. In the onslaught of media coverage, I heard a little something I never knew. Good Morning America did an interview series with people that worked with King on that famous day. King's chief of staff Wyatt T. Walker was among those interviewed:

The passage that stirred Walker's emotions nearly didn't make it into the speech. Some of King's aides thought it was too cliche -- in part because the civil rights leader already had given the 15-minute speech 30 times in the months leading up to the March on Washington.
"We felt that he used that climax so many times. It would be hackneyed and trite," said King's chief of staff Wyatt T. Walker.
Walker and others stayed up all night on the eve of the march to craft a new, dream-free speech. But when King surveyed the crowd, he threw out the new version and opted instead to discuss his own dream. It was much to the surprise of Walker and others.
"When he said, 'I have a dream today.' I said, 'Oh, oh [expletive deleted],'" Walker said. "It just shows how much we didn't know."

I was very struck by this concept of a “dream-free” (or as I heard it at the time, “dream-less”) speech. Not only did it change my perspective on the actual famous speech, but it said so much to me of what was happening behind the scenes as well.

When life is discouraging and tough, it is easy to buy into a “dream-less” state. For that matter, even when life is good, it is easy to buy into this concept. Keep your dreams to yourself. Trust others more than yourself. Forget where you were going. Let go of your passion.

Last week I wrote about a change of plans in my life, and although it appears the road ahead has changed, I have not become dream free. Even when things don’t turn out quite the way we plan them, we don’t have to stop dreaming. Dreams may be the only things that get our feet moving in the first place, and when we abandon them in favor of the status quo, we do no one in the world a favor.

I do not have any idea what that team that had stayed up all night writing said to King after he exited the stage 45 years ago. I have no idea what he said to them. But as Walker admits, “It just shows how much we didn’t know.”
You can’t always trust your dreams to other people, but you must always share them when you see that the time and audience are ripe. Trust yourself. Trust in dreams that are bigger than you. Trust that there is a greater plan in place, and never give in to dreamlessness.

As we swear in a new president, and as we celebrate the life of MLK this week, may we consider our own dreams. Wherever you stand politically, economically, spiritually, or otherwise, there is more to come. There is a chance for something new; it is a new year. May it be so with us also – may there be room for something new, something dream filled, something we believe deeply can change the world. And may we help make it come true.

Sleep well. Dream big. Hold steady.

Amen.

In Wisdom,
Brandi Calhoun Diamond

For the entire interview from Good Morning America, please visit their website at http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5668391&page=1.