Any dream will do

I closed my eyes, drew back the curtain
To see for certain what I thought I knew,
Far, far away, someone was weeping
But the world was sleeping, Any dream will do.
~ Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber

I first heard these lyrics years ago when I was a teenager, and more recently when I started thinking about what they meant for me I found an interpretation that really resonated with me and helped me to understand why I love doing what I’m doing.  It helped to bring some clarity to my imagination and really brought my purpose into focus.

According to Wikipedia, poetry is “a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning. … The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations.”  I think that means that poetry can have different meanings for different people, and it's not just what the words mean literally, it's also how these words make you feel.

For me, the first couple of lines here seem to talk about using my imagination to see the evidence of things yet unseen.  How many times over the years have people shared a picture that has inspired them to take action to make something unseen become a reality?  

"He did see it, that's why it's here.”

~ Mrs Walt Disney, about her husband.

I’m reminded of an observation by Mrs Walt Disney on October 1, 1971, five years after Walt Disney passed away.   On this day Disney World had its grand opening and it is reported that during the dedication ceremony someone turned to Mrs Walt Disney and said, "Isn't it a shame that Walt didn't live to see this?”, whereupon Mrs Disney replied, "He did see it, that's why it's here.”

I am also reminded of the iconic “I have a dream” speech by Rev Martin Author King in 1963 where King urged America to "make real the promises of democracy.” and Bob Geldof’s passion to release “Do they know it’s Christmas” to raise awareness of the plight of the famine in Ethiopia in 1984.

"where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow, do they know it's Christmas time at all?"

~ Bob Geldof and Midge Are

These dreams are about bringing something into being that wasn't formerly there, and many of them are about righting a wrong, correcting an injustice or alleviating a pain that is causing suffering that we can relate to because of our particular circumstances or history.

I guess we all have dreams sometimes that we can only see when we close our eyes and make an effort to pull back the curtain that otherwise keeps the dream veiled and indistinct.

That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!

~ Popeye

Who else can remember Popeye the sailor man, and his dedication to saving his sweetheart Olive Oyl from some imminent threat or danger, usually fueled by popping open a can of spinach and consuming the contents and accompanied by the exclamation: “That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!”

Well, I suspect we don’t all have quite that level of wrong to right, but probably we have something in this season of our life that resonates with the phrase “Someone was weeping, but the world was sleeping”.  Now that may mean someone actually crying, but often it can also be a really helpful metaphor for someone I want to help, someone who is experiencing some kind of problem or pain that I know I can resolve or help to make go away.

“Far, far away, someone was weeping; But the world was sleeping, Any dream will do.” 

~ Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice

My dream is: "to help leaders learn how to maximise their effectiveness, and that of their teams."

What’s your dream?