Well, hello there. My name is Morgan Harper-Nichols. I'm an artist and a writer, and this is a space where I share words that I hope can make a little room for you to slow down and take a few deep breaths as you prepare for whatever lies ahead. Thanks for being here today. And now on to today's episode.

In the words of poet Langston Hughes, what happens to a dream deferred?

Many decades after these words were written, this question feels more relevant than ever.

In many ways, I feel like this question is a lament, one that I can relate to.

I have been writing about dreaming and imagining what could be quite a lot over these past few years.

And I've been doing that for a few reasons.

And I hope that these few reasons can help you feel a little less alone when it comes to

dreaming and also not seeing those dreams come to life in the way that maybe you thought they would.

So here are some reminders about dreaming and why I think it's important for us to keep talking

about our dreams, even if they take time to come to life. Number one, dreaming isn't coming easy these days. And as I talk to others,

I'm becoming more and more aware that I am not the only one that feels this way. As many of us

are faced with unknowns in our life, sometimes the window in which we can look forward seems to be closing and becoming smaller and smaller and smaller.

So the first reason why it's so important for us to continue to talk about our dreams and our hopes for the future in as much detail as we are able to is because we can remind each other

just by sharing that it is possible. Number two, the reason why I think it's so important for us

to talk about dreaming these days is that the more I've been reading, the more I realize that we are

standing on the shoulders of other dreamers. The people who came before us didn't know what

2020 and everything after would bring, but they didn't know what it meant to endure hardship

and continue to sing, to sing a song for tomorrow.

Number three, dreams are so important because dreams are a collective act.

We don't just dream for ourselves and the people we know, but also the generations

who will come after us, whose names and faces that we may never know. I love this line from the

famous song, What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

...