A man who dreams wants self-actualization

A dream is not just a dream in itself. If it were, the moment you get there, at the top of it, it all stops. The effort, the energy, the momentum: it all stops. You have to live the dream as well, right after you symbolically wear the uniform. Therefore, a dream is what keeps your sense of being propelled forward, because by simple analysis, it is a goal that keeps you driven. But as you are driven with the spirit you sustain, you forget you’re dreaming. The dream disappears. It melts away. You did not dream the dream, because what you truly first dreamt of is self-actualization.

It would be a mistake to say self-actualization is the dream coming to fruition, an end to some means. I beg to differ: When people do not have a dream, their existence lacks noise (that joyful noise) and motion. And an idle mind (or life) is the devil’s playground. When we no longer forge ways to express our identities, share our potentials, and get out from the margins of society, that is the point where our existence no longer makes sense. Therefore, by some cunning trick of our psychological functioning, we need to dream a dream. And that keeps everything moving forward.

Self-actualization is therefore a process. And I propose that in our understanding of Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs, we don’t view it from the basic ones, but we begin right at the top: self-actualization. The greater the dream, the greater the passion to address the basic needs.

What then happens when we reach the dream? Simple: We live the dream and enjoy every bit of it and inspire others to dream as well.