Dreams Don't Have to be Viable

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”

- Gloria Steinem

I am super-pragmatic and I often prioritise efficiency. This probably partly stems from a specific kind of laziness that means I hate spending time on getting somewhere when there was an easier / shorter / more convenient / better route. I’m generally also quite risk-averse and the combination of efficiency and pragmatism generally means I invest greatly in mitigating some risks.

At the same time, I am a total dreamer. I love being in my head. On my happiest days, I have time to think about the bigger picture, where I’m finding connections between random dots (this is why I read multiple, unrelated books at the same time too). My ability to “think big” and strategise has also never been a stumbling block to operating and executing. I have mostly struck a good balance and enjoy getting my hands dirty in the trenches as much as I do just sitting down to think.

What I have found though, is that my ability to efficiently execute has really been a muscle that I have strengthened greatly over time. At the same time, I have not exercised my thinking muscle as much due to time and space constraints.

These days I thus often find myself limiting my thinking and dreaming by jumping into the practical stuff too soon; almost to the point where the reality of things becomes a deterrent. Just as a dream or an idea catches momentum, I often shift gears into making a mental to do list of things to research and boxes to tick to determine viability.

Dreams however don’t have to be viable. They are much better as being a vague something that pulls us into a general direction. Dreams can be the fabric that keeps all of the executable logistics together in a way that weaves a story and crafts a journey.

Consider this my own reminder to not stop dreaming.