GLIMPSE NEW DREAMS

Have you ever felt like you want to be more embraced with support on your journey?

“Carry your heart through this world

Like a life-giving sun.”

– Hafiz,14th Century poet

I remember, as if it were a dream, how my dad used to carry me in his arms.

I remember how safe I felt, protected, from all that I would find in the world.

All my life, my father had fought to protect us from the fray of financial despair he had felt as a child; being awakened in the middle of the night to flee from apartments he and his mother shared; they could not afford to pay.

His father and brother both dead, my father dropped out of school at 15 to help support his family. Then he built a business to create a stable life for his three children.

This day he gives me another stronghold.

Dad’s Loving Arms

***

Before embarking on my road trip across America, I stop by my parents’ house to say goodbye.

Before I leave, my father slips a silver chain he once wore around my neck. “It’s a Jewish St. Christopher’s necklace,” he says with a smile. “To keep you safe in your travels.”

I love my dad so much. Heading off to follow in his footsteps as a traveling saleswoman –selling my Change Your Life Through Travel book from the back of my truck, as I wend my way across the country –my “Jilly Loman journey,” I have joked. Though I wonder, might I discover, like Willy Loman, that I, too, somehow was chasing the wrong dream?  That a road I have followed for the love of my father, and my identity, may not fulfill me?

New Path, Timeless Journey

I want to show my dad that I can carry the torch, too.

Only several thousand miles later will I learn this is not my father’s chief dream for me.

Today, he only prays that I will find my way –and find peace.

Love and Peace

When we want more support in our journeys, here are 3 ways that have helped me:

1. Connect with new visions. To connect with those who have gone before and open myself to new visions: In a moment of silence, I think of someone who has inspired me. I visualize energy beginning in my heart and moving like a cord to that person’s heart. Quiet and listening, I ask what I should know that day in the spirit of that person. Feeling the presence of another supporter on my side, I enjoy that I have a new guide.
2. Read a page. I take a favorite book – like The Power of Now or Conversations with God. Again, I grow still and ask to be guided to a perfect page for the day. It’s a bit like a parlor trick!  Each day, I find a special message that helps me on my path. And I am grateful…
3. Always remember it’s about The Journey. Last week I wrote my Dad an email saying: “Do you know that the first quote I ever remember learning/hearing was from you. You may remember it: ‘Success is a journey, not a destination.’ We have said it often. I just want you to know I remember it often, with fondness.” And he responded, changing the subject line to: “The JOURNEY is the key….pop.”

I firmly believe that when we embrace it is about The Journey, we will feel enveloped with support in many, and sometimes mysterious, wonderful ways…Journey On!

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Jillian Robinson is an Emmy-winning TV Producer, Author/Photographer, and Coach, whose passion is to help people live their Highest Self. She loves to coach changemakers and people who are committed to positively impact the lives of youth. Her vision is that, someday, personal development will be taught as commonly as math and science. When you join Jillian in her work, you become part of that positive change.