O288: Optimism Opportunity Dream

Last night I had a dream . . . I was crossing a busy urban street (like NYC) and I dropped 5 or 6 quarters on the pavement all around me. They flew everywhere and I was instantly distressed. Then others gathered around and bent down to retrieve the coins. Then there was this pile of coins. I distributed them amongst this little crowd of us huddled together. There were even silver dollars in this pile. And the dream morphed into a pile of unique objects in pottery and art. We were all passing around this treasure trove of discarded things of beauty.

I woke feeling so happy. I couldn’t have scripted awake such a wonderful example of what feels like loss turning into positive interactions, discovery, bounty and generosity. We can turn things into magic. We can seek opportunities.

(BTW, I found a beat up dime in my yard yesterday – the dream seed I think.)

This dream relates to a video by Al Gore I saw this year. It had this kind of bad news, good opportunity mix. It is a new slide show put together for the TED conference in Monterey. Despite the greater sense of urgency with accelerating climate change, Al Gore emphasizes the ‘generational mission’ presented to us. Stirring indeed.

Paraphrasing Gore . . .

Optimism is a belief, but behavior comes about from belief. But, as important as it is to change behavior in our lives, we often leave out the citizen part. We have to solve the democracy process. We need the political will.

Better than my paraphrase of this video, just watch it. It is again lifting me up with hope, if not joy. He makes smart and committed seem like something worthwhile again. It is rousing. (At the same time making it clear how empty the pResidential campaign is.)


TED is the Technology Entertainment and Design group that has been around since 1984. If there is anyone unfamiliar, their website is worth browsing.

Silver Dollars
Dime