Last updated on April 1st, 2012 at 02:36 pm
Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.
Her mother died giving birth to her 6th child leaving Sonora and her siblings to be raised by her father. She wanted her father to know how special he was because of all the sacrifices he made for his children.
Her small dream to pay homage to her father ultimately turned into a national celebration honoring fathers all over the world. Did she know her dream would become an internationally celebrated day?
Probably not.
But I’ll bet she was following the dream voice inside her head, shouting,
“You must do this thing that you must do.”
It is impossible to know how our dreams will impact the lives of others, or how they might grow to include generations yet to be born. Think of how Thomas Edison’s invention of the light bulb completely transformed the way we live our lives today.
There’s the invention of the birth control pill, the condom, a woman’s right to vote, lipstick, rubber bands, and vibrators to name a few.
These all were just dream voice ramblings in someones head – until they decided to listen – and do what the voice called them to do.
One day your dream voice will quietly tiptoe into your head and gently whisper,
“Hey there . . .listen up . . . I think you need to . . .”
right in the middle of your “regular” life.
And this is where it begins.
You’ll smile to the voice, then immediately dismiss it as silliness – like Aunt Ella’s ultra-small tea cup collection.
At the first meeting with your dream voice, you won’t comprehend it’s not your normal voice telling you its usual craziness like eat chocolate at 2:00am or kiss the person you know you shouldn’t.
It’s different:Â it’s the voice calling out to you from the depths of your soul.
Like other dreamers, you will fail to understand the power behind this voice. It has a mind of its own and a will like Scarlett O’Hara returning to Tara, with a force like the chariots of the Gods, which will reign down upon you for years on end, if you won’t heed to the call of the dream siren.
It becomes the dream cry that won’t be subdued.
It becomes the 3:00am Mockingbird singing at the window of your life. It’s the barking dog at the fence of your idle time. It’s the bees buzzing around your head just as you drift into dream slumber.
Oh you can work your day job at the DMV believing you are doing just fine in your safe life, but the dream voice has other plans for you. It will grab your face when you least expect it and turn you towards the music store you pass on Sundays.
You know the one. It’s the one reminding you of the song inside your head waiting for pen, paper and your time.
“Just buy some blank sheet music,” the voice whispers gently.
You can be working a banking job, climbing your way to the next level, while racing home everyday to read your latest romance novel. The dream voice will show up just as you are ending chapter three,
“You could write this better . . . your vixen is voracious like no others before her . . “
You are swimming in a local pool when you think of a way children can learn to swim with less effort, or in line at the grocery store you suddenly realize how check out lines can be more efficient.Â
The dream voice is tracking you down, calling you out, begging you to make a difference and be the person you were born to be.
But you have to recognize when it’s happening.
When the dream voice whispers, your chest will tighten in heightened excitement. You won’t notice if you are breathing. Time will seem to stand still. You will be lost in your head. The dream voice is singing, calling you to take a risk and swim to the land of fear.
Any euphoria you feel stops instantly when you decide it’s something that you cannot (won’t) do.
“It’s a silly idea. It won’t work. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I’m too tired. I’m too old.”
The list of siren killers is endless and the scared child inside of us fights a gallant battle against the words of the dream voice.
“Please don’t make me, what if . . .”
But the dream voice will not be silenced. It will haunt you to your death.
It will try every trick in the book. Magazines will suddenly fall on the floor in front of you with a title that screams your dream, or a friend will invite you to an event where you are surrounded by living examples of your dream. You will take a wrong turn and accidentally end up in front of your dream home.
It will show up and show up and show up and show up.
Because the dream siren is a powerful foe.
Some brilliant dreamers understand from an early age to just listen to the sirens song of the dream voice and follow its lead, as it draws them from one brilliant accomplishment to another.
Think of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and Vanessa Redgrave – all knew what they loved to do at a young age and went about making it happen before they were old enough to drink. Their inner dream voice must have the lungs of an opera diva belting out marriage of Figaro.
If you continue to ignore your dream siren, she will come at you while you are driving alone in your car, on a hike in the woods, sitting alone with your coffee – any time it can catch you – to press you into thinking about your dream and what life might look like if you accomplished it.
It will wake you up at 3:00 in the morning. It will haunt you in bookstores and museums. Friends will be called on to carry out the sirens call by suggesting classes you never thought of, seminars you never heard of, or inviting you on trips to places you never imagined.
The universe will conspire with your siren to make you live your dream.
It’s the way of the dreamer; the dreamers path. And it’s calling out to you.
Don’t you hear it?
Catherine
Catherine’s dream is to be a motivator and published writer. She is testing her theories on motivation with this blog and the seven other women who have volunteered to be a part of her dream project. Catherine also writes about her life as a mom at the blog A Week In The Life Of A Redhead. Someday, she would also like to be invited to speak at TED as the next Erma Bombeck. Catherine posts Sunday nights.
Catherine Hughes is the founder, content director and editor-at-large of 8WomenDream. She is passionate about helping women step out of their own way and strike out into a world waiting for their special talents. She’s a published author and a former award-winning mom blogger. Catherine has helped companies both large and small create engaging web content, social media narratives, and unique blogging platforms. She claims to be a redhead, but don’t hold that against her.
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