Wild Dreaming

December 27, 2022

Wild Dreaming

by Rochelle Melander

Does your life ever feel—boring? Like you’ve settled into routines and habits and rarely try anything new. Life feels a little like the movie Groundhog Day, where nothing changes.

Traveling back in time can help us think about our passions and dreams. When Octavia Butler was ten, she started writing stories. The worlds she created in her notebooks became the basis of her world for her Patternmaster series:

“By the time I was ten I was writing, and I carried a big notebook around so that whenever I had some time I could write in it. That way, I didn’t have to be lonely. But when I wrote I wasn’t, which was probably a good reason for my continuing to write as a young kid.”

In today’s exercise, you’re going to recall what you loved when you were ten. The point is to see clues that help you find the ideas, people, and activities that stir your soul.

Ten seems to be a magic age for most of us. We’ve lived long enough for our passions to have grown and developed. Yet we are too young to be socialized out of them. Though our parents may believe that dainty girls do not play basketball or real boys don’t do art, we’re given a little freedom because we are, after all, still children.

When clients come to me seeking to connect with their passions, I begin by asking them to look at themselves when they were ten. I encourage them to revisit childhood diaries and mementoes; to talk with friends, parents, and siblings; and to consider the following questions:

*How did you spend your free time?

*What did you collect?

*What could you lose hours doing?

*What sort of make-believe games did you create?

*Who were your friends?

*What did you read?

*What subjects did you love in school?

*Which ones did you despise?

*What did you get into trouble for?

*What did you keep secrets about?

Review your list—and ask:
*Is there anything on this list I’d like to explore?

*How might I do that?