Follow Your Dream...

“I have been to the Promised Land,” is an amazing phrase stated by Dr. Martin Luther King in articulating his grand dream. I can echo that phrase after attending the presidential inauguration in January – an inauguration that was more about the people than some might think.

As a young Canadian girl attending junior high school in the southern US, I was privileged to hear Dr. King speak that dream to us.

I ‘saw’ the dream as he did and made a personal commitment in my life to help actualise that dream; I am eternally grateful to friends and colleagues who made it possible for me to be in DC as President Barack Obama took his oath – to physically be in the presence of the actualisation of Dr. King’s dream.

Yes, Barack Obama, a face of those underrepresented historically, took his seat. And, yes, his speech set a new tone. Some have written their perspective of people embracing a leader who rose out of the crises in the US. What I experienced in that day and days after was not a reaction to crises, but an embracing of creativity. The promise land I experienced on January 20, 2009, was more than one man, it was millions of people taking human dignity, basic goodness, and tapping into potential to a whole new level.

What did the Promised Land I experience look like? People were in extraordinarily good spirits and random acts of kindness were everywhere. Crowds on the Metro and people in the crowd on E and 10th Ave. going through security to get to Pennsylvania Avenue were clapping, cheering, laughing, chanting, praying and eager to strike up conversation with anyone. Helping hands were everywhere and when people called out where they had travelled from, everyone would cheer. Were there glitches – yes – large crowds, slow security and yet no glitch could dim the sheer exuberance and exhilaration of the day.

People related to each other in unity – in packed crowds we worked together to unite friends who got separated even if it meant putting them ahead of ourselves. We treated each other with humour – with faith in human kind. Everywhere was the graciousness of a smile; people moving together to get us on the subway; sharing of humour – a laugh; a glance of hope and acknowledgement; a helping hand to step over something. Millions chose to tap into the peaceful transition of power happening on that day -- so many people choosing to see themselves in that moment.

How does that continue – how do we move towards that Promised Land? This is the new era of responsibility: should I choose, I have a responsibility to keep the dream alive!

That day I experienced my dream of a kinder, unified world – I keep that dream alive in my thoughts, imagination, words and actions – on a moment to moment basis. I keep that dream alive by being outrageous enough to share my account of the day’s activities with you, by continuing to speak of that dream and seeing the exploration of peaceful transition of power – what that means to all of us – and above all actively dreaming it – not believing it when I see it, but seeing it until I fully believe it.

Early in my time working in human rights, I was sitting with a young African Canadian friend, the daughter of colleagues, and as we were playing a game, she told me that she wished her hand was white. Today, I say – ‘Not in my dream – that will not happen in my world – in my dream the creativity, unique brilliance and beauty that every child comes into this world with the courage and conviction to live is cherished and cultivated’.

I see a world where we, as individuals, choose to articulate and live our dreams; a world where we honour and cultivate the dreams of others. A world where we arrive and live our ‘unique differences’. A world where we imagine, think, speak and act out of love for ourselves and others. A truly collaborative world – we tune into the bigger, grander scheme of things – whatever we choose to call the God of our understanding – and choose to cultivate the brilliance in ourselves and others.

Each of us has the responsibility – if we so choose – to perpetuate and expand the energy of hope and optimism that was unleashed by Dr. King, followed by all those who chose to share and live that grand dream into being. That hope and optimism was further actualised by all who acted to bring the ‘face of difference’ in Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States . The energy of ‘potential’ does not reside in the energy of one man, as he suggests, it needs to be lived by individuals. The invitation is to ‘show up’ leading from our unique perspectives and talents – living our own ‘difference’. It doesn’t cost anything to dream the dream, to be hopeful, to tell the new story – the amount of effort to get there is so small.

I have been working with leaders in the private and public sector and over the past few years I witness an exploration of shifting of power; a commitment to work towards the blending of science and indigenous and community knowledge – truly collaborative organisational cultures – sustainable environments. I am called to support leaders to lead in alignment – rebuilding trust in government, respect in teams, building vibrant and healthy organisational cultures and lives that work powerfully and effectively inside those cultures.

Our responsibility now is to dream whatever our improved version of life might be. To dream it, contemplate it, share it, and catch up with its future potential experience. To dream it and be certain we will live it.

Judith Richardson, MA, BA, B.Ed, MEC

Recipient of International Coach of the Year and Canadian Progress Club Women of Excellence Award as Entrepreneur and Innovator, Judith works and plays across North America, Europe, Jamaica , Siberia , Australia , Sweden , Israel and Russia .