"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt.
For a shy, quiet ten-year-old like me, Joan Silberbach’s basement was a wonderland.
Joan was a hippieish former high school art teacher who taught after-school supplemental painting, design, and papier-mâché to kids who either wanted to hone their artistic abilities...or whose parents wanted a place to keep their kids occupied before their busy workday ended.
Once a week, I’d take a different school bus to her house, pull out the chocolate chip cookie my mom had placed in the bottom of my school bag that morning, and descend Joan’s basement steps into another world.
The long, subterranean room was packed with a variety of stretched, starched-white canvases, vises and grips, tools of all vintages, buckets of glue, and tubes of paint rolled up tight like drained toothpaste….
The first year I spent in that safe and magical space, I created dozens of projects. But by far my most coveted piece was a life-size replica of John Lennon’s black-and-white 1963 Rickenbacker 325 electric guitar made completely of paper mache.
John Lennon was my hero. For someone like me—the kind of kid who turned beet red even thinking about speaking in front of a group—John’s performance at Shea Stadium in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans bestowed upon him pure deity status in my young eyes.
I had seen the concert on our old home VCR, and the image of him smiling and strumming amidst sheer pandemonium was etched into my brain. Being a rock star, to me, had to be the ultimate fantasy…
After bringing [the Rickenbacker] home and unveiling it to my family, I carried it upstairs. I locked my door.
Only I knew why I had put so much effort into this project.
I grabbed the belt from my maroon robe as a guitar strap and slung the Rickenbacker 325 over my shoulder. I centered myself in front of the wide mirror on my wall and carefully placed the needle on the spinning record on the desk below.
After a few crackles, the first sounds from the Beatles’ White Album emerged. The landing of an airplane, its wheels screeching on impact, followed by the up-tempo piano and guitar of “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
Ooooooo... Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC. Didn’t get to bed last night.
I leapt around my room. Strumming, lip-synching. In that moment, I wasn’t the shy, unwanted kid.
I was a rock god! I felt powerful, talented, wanted.
That was my dream.”
In the heart of every one of us, nestled between layers of routine and responsibility, lie dreams waiting to be acknowledged, waiting for us to take even the smallest step towards them.
It's so easy to get lost in the daily grind, to convince ourselves that our dreams are too impractical, too naïve for the real world. Fear becomes the gatekeeper of our potential, whispering tales of failure and judgment, anchoring us in our comfort zones.
Yet, when the noise fades and the pace slows, our dreams resurface, reminding us of the passions and possibilities we've pushed aside.
"It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela
This Week’s Scare Your Soul Courage Challenge: Dare to Dream Again
This week, take a moment to reconnect with those long-forgotten wishes.
Ask yourself …
What did I love doing as a child?
What dreams have I not yet pursued?
What's one small step I can take towards them this month?
By carving out space for our dreams, by giving ourselves permission to explore and envision, we begin to break down the barriers fear has built around them.
Your dreams don't have to remain whispers in the quiet; with each small step, they can become the guiding force of your life.
Remember, the journey to achieving your dreams starts with believing in their possibility and in your power to make them a reality.
Here's to dreaming, doing, and becoming who we were meant to be.
Your dreams are ready for you, and it's never too late to start chasing them.
With love and belief,
Portions of the text above are from my book, Scare Your Soul: 7 Powerful Principles to Harness Fear and Lead Your Most Courageous Life, published by Balance/Hachette.
The book is available at bookstores around the country and online.