by Hal Manogue
"I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one... I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817 in Concord Massachusetts. He was an author, teacher, naturalist and philosopher. We all have heard of his retreat to Walden's pond and the works he wrote there. The one above is from "Walden," which was published in 1854. Following our dream is something that we all have been taught early in life. It is the way to happiness and peace. That advice is still being taught, it just that the dream has changed. Now it seems the dream is about something outside of me, instead of my dream. Somehow the dream has been distorted; everyone must have the same dream of money, power, material grandeur, and social status. My success is measured by someone else, not me. I am only the mouse that follows the trail of the cheese. The cheese is not my flavor, but I follow anyway, in order to be called a mouse.
Imagination as Thoreau points out, is a gift we develop within ourselves. It is created by thought and it is as diverse as we are. Imagination forms matter and becomes reality. It is what my world is built on, and gives me the energy to create. In a world of fast pace, fast facts, and fast talk, it's easy to forget what power lies within me. I get caught in the trap of deception, and wiggle to be set free.
So what's the answer, what's the cure, do I spend two years in the woods as Thoreau did, or do I stop and find myself? I find myself by dreaming my dream, then imagine I am living it, and let it manifest. My thoughts of success are different from yours, but that's OK, we all are connected and all of us contribute to the collective consciousness of love. Being a spirit having a human experience, I can imagine I am so many things.
I may imagine I am here to be of service to all life, and find happiness there. I may be a teacher, a farmer, a clerk, a priest, a homemaker and find peace. Whatever I think I am, I am. D.H. Lawrence put it this way:
"This is what I believe:
That I am I
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.
That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.
There is my creed."
Dreams and imagination are my tools, discernment is my guide and in Love, I co-create my life.
"I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one... I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817 in Concord Massachusetts. He was an author, teacher, naturalist and philosopher. We all have heard of his retreat to Walden's pond and the works he wrote there. The one above is from "Walden," which was published in 1854. Following our dream is something that we all have been taught early in life. It is the way to happiness and peace. That advice is still being taught, it just that the dream has changed. Now it seems the dream is about something outside of me, instead of my dream. Somehow the dream has been distorted; everyone must have the same dream of money, power, material grandeur, and social status. My success is measured by someone else, not me. I am only the mouse that follows the trail of the cheese. The cheese is not my flavor, but I follow anyway, in order to be called a mouse.
Imagination as Thoreau points out, is a gift we develop within ourselves. It is created by thought and it is as diverse as we are. Imagination forms matter and becomes reality. It is what my world is built on, and gives me the energy to create. In a world of fast pace, fast facts, and fast talk, it's easy to forget what power lies within me. I get caught in the trap of deception, and wiggle to be set free.
So what's the answer, what's the cure, do I spend two years in the woods as Thoreau did, or do I stop and find myself? I find myself by dreaming my dream, then imagine I am living it, and let it manifest. My thoughts of success are different from yours, but that's OK, we all are connected and all of us contribute to the collective consciousness of love. Being a spirit having a human experience, I can imagine I am so many things.
I may imagine I am here to be of service to all life, and find happiness there. I may be a teacher, a farmer, a clerk, a priest, a homemaker and find peace. Whatever I think I am, I am. D.H. Lawrence put it this way:
"This is what I believe:
That I am I
That my soul is a dark forest.
That my known self will never be more than a little clearing in the forest.
That gods, strange gods, come forth from the forest into the clearing of my known self and then go back.
That I must have the courage to let them come and go.
That I will never let mankind put anything over me, but that I will try always to recognize and submit to the gods in me and the gods in other men and women.
There is my creed."
Dreams and imagination are my tools, discernment is my guide and in Love, I co-create my life.
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