If dreams are so important to soul, to happiness, then why do so many people try to discourage us from following our dreams? Maybe it's because they're afraid of seeing us blossom into our full selves, because that's a place they've never dared to go themselves. Maybe it's because their own dreams have withered away. Or maybe it's because they're just scared, scared of happiness and energy that comes from a person following a dream--and scared of vulnerability that someone can open themselves up to when they truly follow their heart.

It shouldn't matter what other people say about your dreams. If you have a dream that makes you feel good, follow it. Don't let sour criticism spoil your dream. Hold onto it, and do best you can to make it come true. Hold onto your dream in long nights it takes to get where you want to go--and notice each small step of success as you get there. Nurture your dream. Nurture yourself.

But other people aren't only ones who put down our dreams, or try to suppress us. Sometimes we can be most critical of our own dreams, by dismissing them or telling ourselves that they can't happen. When we let go of our dreams, we let go of a part of ourselves. We suppress a part of ourselves. And that can deaden us inside, to emotions, to hope. It can bring a lot of pain--because we're not letting ourselves reach for something that fulfills us. We're not letting ourselves try.

Not allowing ourselves to follow our dreams, or even to just dream, can eat away at us, and cause us to become bitter, angry, and self-loathing. But following our dreams--ah, that's what releases us. Even when it's hard--even when it's scary adn we feel liek giving up and we can't think how we're going to get there--even then, there's something that feels right to us, deep in our souls, something that speaks to our hearts and makes us feel alive.

Dreams are vital to our well being, and we should all have them. What can you do to bring yourself closer to your dreams?

I think that there's often a good reason for procrastination. Our society sees procrastination as a negative thing--what are you doing putting it off; just get it done--but I think it's a message to ourselves that we are not quite ready to do something yet. And that's okay.

Sometimes we need to take our time getting there. This is often true with creative solutions, thoughts, and creative process in general, that there's a period where we must put aside problem or goal and stop consciously thinking about it, almost put those thoughts into temporary hibernation. We may feel like we're doing nothing, but actually things are moving under surface, even (or perhaps especially) when we're not aware of them. It's a kind of incubation period for creativity and change, and a part of process. It's important to give yourself time to just "do nothing," while thoughts are working themselves out deep down inside, on a subconscious level.