The “I” in Vision

“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”     John A. Shedd (19th century American author and professor)

I often wonder why the future tends to be something so elusive.  Mostly, I wonder why many visions for the future are left without a sense of the one it is meant to embody.   Dreams often remain as glimpses or vague inklings, but not given enough space to build a life upon.   I am profoundly surprised by the lack of integration between who we are and what we hope for in the future.  We expend some energy determining a noble trajectory for our journey at sea.  Neglected are the intricate contours of our ship, capacity of our sails and wind needed to set (and keep) us on course.  And so we can remain limited.

This is not a plug for increased individualism.  Living authentically, with a pulse on the reality of who we are and that which we were meant, can actually be an antidote to pure individualism.   It requires relating deeply and intentionally to people and situations outside ourselves.  In reading David Whyte (present day poet, author and organizational consultant), he suggests the use of one’s work as one of the many avenues to discover the self and how that uniqueness will contribute to the world.  He says, “It is essential then to know what is vital and alive in us and shape our lives around this image.” (Heart Aroused: Poetry and Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. P. 114)

My mentor continually reminds me that the extent to which one has a clear vision (emerging from who “I” truly am) and treats it as fact is the extent to which it will become the lived reality.  This process is a lifelong endeavor, but one worthy of embarking.  What could be more pressing?