Word #1 for the Year: Dream Small

With the dawn of a new year, so many are grasping and envisioning 'dream big.' I'll lose 100 pounds.

I've had trouble picking my 3 words to attempt to grow into, ruminate on, and embody.

As I look back on my high school years, years at UVA, and now years as a teacher,  I think I have always taken the token of 'dream small.'

This is so counterintuitive to our society's vision of success or the norm.

For me to dream small, is to accomplish all the building step-by-step goals that lead to what could be your big dream.

I know people who say they want to be a rocket scientist but have no journey mapped out or do not recognize the intricacies of the dream.

I know many, young and old,  who say they want to rid the world of war (you know all the Miss American contestants?). Yet, they fail to recognize that first step is within his/her own relationships and surrounding social sphere of influence.

Once I made it to the finalist round for the Jefferson Scholar award at UVA (basically free-tuition for 4 years...highly selective...found it funny I made it that far)...There I sat. At a polished table. Made of real wood. Dressed up in a new skirt and top that Momma and I had gotten at Belk. Momma had taken off and had driven me up. We'd soon be eating at Riverside. Yet, there I sat. Huge portraits of people hung on the walls.

The lead questioner, folded his hands, and leaned forward...'You seem to have a passion for the working poor, how would you change it for the world?

My response without pause: "I'd start in my backyard. Grassroots will be how I change the world."

All the ladies and gentleman gasped. To them that may have been a small dream. To me, I knew it was a small dream which had huge dividends and rippling effects for years to come.

 I had recently started lifeguarding at a 20 x 10 pool in the country where the extremely poor kids came during the day while their parents went to work. It turned into a tutoring, multi-generational dialogue, athletic coaching, swim lesson, and life skills promoting summer program all hosted by me (and sometimes Dad would come out). Aunt Sue the grandma would bring me tomatoes for lunch. And, that summer was one of the best of my life.

Dreaming small may be where I have and will find the most joy to pour out and to have poured into me.

A recent commencement speech at King College (where Log is an alum! and I've been many times) tackled this challenge for graduates.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55537702/Dream-Small-King-College-Commencement-Address

Moral of the Story: So, this year I will Dream Small.