Do you dare to dream? And when I speak of dreaming, I mean big dreams. Big dreams for an awesome life. Big dreams for an awesome world. Inspired dreams of living a meaningful life that leaves a noticeable impact on the world for the better. Dreams of selflessness, kindness, compassion, passion, creative expression, and service. Dreams that elevate your heart rate and ignite you from the inside out.

John Lennon wrote a poignant song that captures the essence of important dreams – that song is Imagine. Every time I hear that song, I cry. Every single time. For me, tears mean truth. One day I played it 5 times in a row and I cried each time. It’s a deeply moving song about dreaming big. About believing in a new paradigm. About creating it – by living it.

I live in a beautiful coastal community of dreamers and implementers. I’m continuously blown away by the passion people share for shifting today’s paradigm from selfish to selfless – from head to heart. I had no idea it would be like this when I moved here last fall. Obviously my soul knew though. I’ve been aching for a return to community and I’ve found it – big time. People are eager to share their gifts, to connect and to co-create a beautiful world well outside of the box.

So what is community? And what does it mean for you? For me, community is a collective of people who support and help one another. They help without expectations in return – because they care. Community is about sharing our gifts with one another and inspiring each other to live better. Community is like an extension of family. This is how I grew up – which is why I ache for it now.

Community brings out the best in us – in times of need, and in times of joy. When we reconnect to community, we return to our inherent gift giving nature.

The cultural breakdown of community is intertwined with the modern mindset of money. Money originated as a token of gratitude. The genesis of money was to connect gifts (money) with needs (products and services) to make us all richer. Unfortunately it’s done exactly the opposite. Status quo culture has created a scarcity mindset which causes people to hoard and live from the illusion of not enough. Money also perpetuates the paradigm of separation. For instance, when we pay for “stuff”, we often have no connection to who made it, how it was made, or where it was made. Ditto for the services we buy. As soon as money exchanges hands, the relationship is often over – if there was ever one in the first place. When we pay for something, we don’t owe the person on the other end of the transaction anything – including gratitude. This is the separation that money has created. If we met more of our needs locally, the natural world and our relationships would be the richer for it.

On the flip side, the return to a gifting mentality creates a deep bond of gratitude. Gifts create a tie – a relationship. If you think about it, we’ve become a species who is hungry for the unique. We’re hungry for the things that have stories attached to them. Things that people have personally created help us recognize the pricelessness of the unique. They show us how authenticity, creativity, and story are intertwined with love. For instance, think about how you feel when you receive a generic Hallmark birthday card vs. a hand made birthday card created especially for you. A one of a kind creation that can never be replicated because it was created in a powerful moment of love – of interconnection – just for you. The difference is palpable. You can actually feel the love weaved through the threads of the story that inspired this heartfelt creative expression. This is priceless.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an inspiring and engaging talk by a beautiful young man who is dreaming big dreams, creating a new world story, building community, and living the gift.