What Do You Hear?

Lost in the most vivid dream, my mind was awakened by a burning question: Why? What did the dream mean? Was it a lesson or simply a release? I dreamt of a familiar old strip mall, a place my family frequented in my youth, transforming into a dark mountainous valley. The cheerful facades of the stores crumbled away, replaced by imposing slate-grey mountains reaching up to the glare of a new dawn. The dream itself wasn't unpleasant, but still unsettling. In a way that it showed things once accepted but now out of touch.  Within the maze of towering peaks, I saw familiar faces of people I thought I knew, all caught up in pronouncements of duty and displays of prideful arrogance.

The grace of awareness can be a freeing thing. Yet, with freedom comes the burden of being self-aware, that constantly pressured to be better. Especially in a world where kindness and understanding seem scarce. The daily news bombards me with burdens that feel too heavy for any one person to bear. My upbringing instilled in me a deep empathy, yet now the world often seems indifferent to such things. This dissonance leaves me confused and silent. How can we call ourselves compassionate when we turn a deaf ear to pain?

Some call me an empath, others a cynic. But the truth lies somewhere in between. My nature is to give everything to my family, often neglecting my own needs. In the dream, the strip mall transformed into a beautiful yet imposing landscape. It felt like a romanticized scene, a picture of fulfillment that masked a deeper truth. As humans, are a complex mix of emotions, shaped by the information we absorb. We crave acceptance, which can sometimes lead us to blindly follow the crowd, where truth becomes obscured by convenience. So be mindful of the world around you. There's a vital difference between what your spirit whispers and what the world wants you to hear.