Source: Finleyholiday.com
Do you remember last year...
on January 20, 2017, when the United States inaugurated its 45th President
and...
the very next day millions of women here and around the world resisted our country's new leader, of questionable morals and divisive rhetoric, by marching in protest?
Of course you do... who could forget?
What you can't remember, because you never knew... is that two days later...
I woke up early with my heart racing from a dream of trying to catch a train to New York.
The sign on the train pulling into the station read "Greenwich"... an implausible destination for New York City, yet I jumped on anyway.
Source: Shutterstock
But the car was empty.
I raced down the aisle into the next car... but it was empty too. Three, four, train cars more... all empty... until I reached the front of the train with its few seated passengers.
With my heart still pounding, I questioned the first woman I met, "Is this the train to New York?"
"No!" she replied emphatically.
But could I trust her?
I couldn't afford to pass on this train if she was wrong. It would be hours until the next one left for New York.
In a panic, I exited the train and ran along the platform where masses of people were gathering.
Among the crowds, I spotted a woman conductor and breathlessly shouted, "Is this the train to New York?"
Her nonchalant nod implied, "yes".
Relieved but frazzled, I joined a queue waiting to board the same train I exited just seconds ago... and then tried to catch my breath.
When I woke from the dream, the wind was howling.
Perhaps it was the constant hum of fiercely moving air outside my window that conjured the rushing sound of an approaching train in my dream.
But dreams are rarely simple.
Why the urgent need to "depart"?
Photo: Elizabeth Low
Maybe it's due to an underlying issue stemming from a strong desire to escape from a government that spins lies into false truths.
If so, this dream is less about travel and more about "trust"... or the lack of it.
Why didn't I trust the first woman I met on the train? Did she deliberately tell me a lie because lying is now the new norm? Or if she believed this train wasn't going to New York, where did she think she was going?
If dreams are the means to solving the problems we face in our waking lives, or the methods for making sense of the disjointed and often random occurrences we experience daily, or are the producers of surreal stories manufactured from our hopes and wishes, then here's a more direct connection to my dream about trust.
Source: Dreamstime
Before going to bed and dreaming of my departure to New York, I had just finished reading: Happy as a Dane:10 Secrets of the Happiest People in the World, where the author, Malene Rydahl, credits the people of Denmark as being not only the happiest people in the world, but also the most trusting. And it's their strong sense of trust for each other and their government that contributes to their well-being and happiness.
Interestingly, Rydahl sites these examples:
"In Denmark, it's normal for babies to be left in strollers outside restaurants and cafes while parents dine inside. In one respect, no one is keeping an eye on these children, but in another, everyone is because people have trust in those around them.
And if you drive out to the countryside for your produce where there are roadside stands of fruits and vegetables, there'll be little pots to leave your money for the items you take. It's an honor system where no one ever thinks of stealing."
Imagine that!
And imagine this...
A government that stands by its words...
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
~Preamble to the United States Constitution, September 17, 1787
Then maybe it won't be so hard to imagine...
A life of trust, a life of truth, a life of fairness, kindness, happiness, and peace for all.
One can dream...
If not on this first day of the new year, when optimism is at its highest and wish lists are the longest... then when?
In Both Reality & Dreams,
May You Trust and Always Be Trusted.
Wishing you the very best
in
'2018'
XOX... Dyan
