Dreams Matter

The inauguration of America's first black President on the heels of Martin Luther King Day attests to the fact that no matter how far our economy sinks, how difficult our lives become, our noblest hopes and dreams will continue--as they always have--to try and steer humanity to a brighter future.

Five years after publishing Defying Gravity, I still stand by these words from my introduction:

Whether we're in the first flowering of adulthood or the autumn of our lives, most of us long to do something that energizes us and fills us with joy. We hope to make a difference, to leave a seed of ourselves behind to germinate in future generations. But all too often, we settle for far less and toil away at jobs that are smaller than our spirits. We tell ourselves that we aren't young enough, educated enough, talented enough or rich enough to do what we really want. Convinced that it's impractical, even childish, to listen to our hearts, we travel so far from our desire that when it speaks to us, we no longer recognize the sound. Worse yet, we stop dreaming altogether. But following the call of our heart is not a luxury reserved for a select few. It is our birthright.

What I neglected to stress back in 2004 was the importance of what Obama characterized yesterday as "a willingness to find meaning in something greater than" ourselves.

At "this moment," Obama went on to say, "— a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all."