Moreover, dreaming is a nonlinear, iterative process. Rarely do we dream perfectly on the first try. Instead, we revisit our visions, refine our goals and adapt to changing circumstances. This flexibility is key to turning dreams into reality, whether they are dreams of personal growth, professional achievement or systemic change.
Recognizing Dreams
The other fascinating element of dreams is that we tend to forget them easily. No matter how wonderful or vivid they may be, unless they are written down or recorded in some other way, they seem to escape us within a few minutes of awakening. I am often surprised by people who say they never dream. In all likelihood, they do dream but forget those dreams before they can even register them.4
A few years ago during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I conducted a fascinating month-long experiment and kept a sleep diary next to my bed. Each morning, I jotted down whatever dreams came to mind as soon as I woke up. At the end of the month, I reread my entries. To my surprise, I found that I could recall the dreams as vividly as if they had occurred the night before. This exercise taught me the importance of recognizing and recording dreams—not just the ones that happen in sleep, but the ones that happen in our waking lives as well.
Recognizing dreams requires a degree of intentionality. It means taking the time to reflect on and analyze what we hope for, what inspires us and what we want to achieve. Dreams can’t become the basis of planning until we value them and acknowledge them for what they are: blueprints emerging from our depths our soul to outline a future that we want to inhabit. By documenting our dreams—whether through journaling, conversations or goal setting (often all three)—we bring them out of the realm of the intangible and into the realm of the possible.
Rheum to Dream
So what does a rheumatologist dream about? As a rheumatologist, I have lofty dreams of a world free from the shackles of joint pain. As an immunologist, I envision a world that has fine-tuned the forces of inflammation to only protect the body and the mind. And as a health services researcher, my dream is one in which people from all backgrounds have access to high-quality care that maximizes their quality of life.
