"The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world." — Malcolm Gladwell
I was brought to tears by the Korean rendition of John Lennon's Imagine while watching the opening of the Winter Olympics. This song seemed more relevant than it was in the 1970s when he wrote it.
John was truly a visionary of his time, he turned his face to the future and began to put to music what dreamers imagined — "a place with no heaven, no hell" — it may take a little effort, yet in history, religion brought so much chaos, much more than is justifiable under any faith. Would the world be a better place without religions? Imagine "the sky above us" and "living day to day" — living in the present and facing the consequences of our actions today.
Imagine no countries — how many wars have been fought in the name of sovereignty, imperialism, land, oil etc? What if there was nothing to kill or die for? Imagine people living in peace — real peace, not just a shield to cover the dirty hands of powerful wealthy nations. John Lennon wanted us to keep dreaming for world peace and it will take all of us for that to happen.
Imagine no possessions. We all have to leave it all here once we are gone, so why not let go a little of it now? There are those with so much less than we have. Imagine what would have happened if we shared our excess food with the less fortunate? World hunger would probably end overnight. "And the world would live as one".
My Angels touch my shoulder and remind me of the times when people turned their backs on visionaries who cannot hold back from sharing their dreams, for they know if we want to survive we must learn to share our dreams, share the light. There is no other way.
In this week ahead remember these words and have the courage to share if you have a dream or vision and if a visionary shares their vision with you — together, imagine that happening. Arohanui.
Shirley-Joy.
