Dreaming
I vouch for dreaming. Big time.
The previous entry into this series dealt with making choices and realizing the power of the network around us when we venture to unlock that next chapter in our lives. I must admit that I skipped a step in the telling of this tale. And that step is dreaming. But because this is my story, breaking the chronology of events is something that I just get to do without being concerned about my bonus.
Our brain is a network of networks. Depending on which areas work together, different things happen:
Dreaming happens when certain interlocked areas of this network come together. To form visions for our future, to introspect creatively and filter through our experiences to commit things to long-term memory. Let’s call it the “Default Mode Network”. It is something the human brain is intuitively good at if we give this network sufficient space to unfold its magic. It is the stepping point for many great stories. It gives us direction and purpose, something we often feel rather than cling to intellectually. It is therefore able to steer us securely through the turbulent waters of forging the lives we want for ourselves.
There is a second network that we call upon frequently, styled the “Task Positive Network”. As the name suggests, it works to navigate tasks in the moment, being focused and goal-oriented, computing sensory inputs and navigating what goes into our short term memory. As you may imagine, this part of the brain is the one your employer often likes best. Is it visionary? No. But it gets the job done.
Bringing balance
The thing with these two networks is that they can feel like opposing forces. Have you ever noticed how your perspectives and tangible dreams of the future tend to dwindle when you get super busy at work? Exactly, it is the Task Positive Network taking over.
Yet dreaming is the key. My year of healing body and mind after leaving my corporate life behind allowed for my dreaming Default Mode Network to snap back into balance. I found that I could muse for hours about what my life could look like, who I wanted to be, what impact I wanted to have in this life and world. What I wanted to experience once I moved to New York City, the plays I wanted to see, foods I wanted to try, the people I wanted to meet. Reconnecting with this part of myself felt wonderful. Not only did it feel right, it also brought into deeply resonating focus that which I now call my professional home: coaching. Should you not have seen it yet, the previous article in this series takes us into those pivotal moments in a bit more detail and shows you how it all started for me.
If you want balance in your life, it really pays itself back infinity-fold to practice transitioning smoothly between the two networks. I call it “going down the river.”
You can touch one side and then the other, but the flow is always steady and directional. The river is your life. Being in my dreaming and in the action of executing my new life overseas was exhilarating and allowed me to navigate the unknown and braving the discomforts of moving into a new country and starting a new professional chapter.
My reality and business are great, because I allowed for a great dreaming time.
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