The following paragraphs explain a new book that I read titled “The Giver of Dreams.” I share a bit about the book and then some interesting facts that I discovered about myself after being part of this journey to the Land of the Familiar.
Has someone ever recommended a book to you and you really weren’t sure you wanted to read it, but you agreed to do it anyway?
I usually read mystery and romance books and some of my favorite authors are Mary Higgins Clark, Miranda James, Dorothy Howell, and Dorothy Gilman. These books connect with the born detective in me. No, however, I do not work as a detective for a living; I always notice the differences in things and if something is not quite right or if someone is not quite right. I find detective work fascinating. Maybe, I also like to get away from reality and immerse myself in someone else’s drama. I really don’t know what attracts me to these kinds of books. I know when I take one, I can’t put it down. I keep reading and reading while the hands of the clock keep moving. It’s crazy.
Recently, my library has expanded with the addition of something more than a mystery. I wasn’t sure if I would like it or if it would hold my interest. Boy, was I wrong. This book I am talking about is so powerful yet simple that it is easy to connect. The story is interesting at the same time. The characters in the book are nameless, which makes it a different book than any other I have read.
The book you recommended to me for review was titled “The Dream Giver” by Bruce Wilkinson. I had never heard of it before it was introduced to me and I even wrote down the name and author to remember to look it up in the library. My local library didn’t have it, so I reserved it. This should tell you how eager you were to read it. No. I thought that when it wasn’t immediately available, it wasn’t meant for me to read it. It never occurred to me that maybe it was so popular that I was on the waiting list to get it. Perspective is everything and my point of view was wrong. I have admitted it.
You didn’t read this to hear all the drama surrounding getting the book in the first place, but something about the book. I was wrapped up before reading the book. I opened the cover, inside adjacent to the chapters was a note that said: The book was for anyone who has ever hoped to achieve something with their life. Have you ever opened a book and seen a dedication to someone? I also have. Now, have you ever opened a book and the dedication was for you? Never in all my years of reading books have I seen this. I was impressed and wanted to read more.
The Dream Giver interacts with the reader. The beginning asks a question to the reader, a question to me. I felt like I was really talking to someone in front of me. The question was “Do you think all people on earth were born with a dream for their life?” I was like what? I usually read books to entertain myself and to find out who the murderer is. Remember that I read mystery books. This was too much, this book was asking me questions and I found myself speaking out loud answering them. My God.
I followed the journey of Ordinary, a Nobody, who lived in a place called Familiar. Okay, it has a name; not a name like you and I have but it is a name nonetheless. Ordinary did the same thing day after day, like everyone else. Nobody did. He woke up, went to his regular work, came home, and started the day all over again. He had thoughts of something bigger and had the feeling that something was missing in his life. The thought would pass and he would continue to do what was expected of him. One day he found a feather on his windowsill. He believed it had come from the Giver of dreams. He wasn’t the first Nobody to come up with this. No, there were others before him; he just never imagined what could happen to him. He was afraid to tell someone in Familiar about this dream of hers and that he found this feather given to him by the Dream Giver. Day by day, Ordinary kept thinking about his big dream, it was all he could think about. He was getting restless at work and realized that he would never be happy unless he could pursue this dream of his. The Giver of Dreams gave him the opportunity to make a change and he desperately wanted to follow suit.
I keep reading because now I’m interested in what that great dream Ordinary has is. Somewhere I’m still in mystery mode and this has sparked my curiosity. I keep reading and find that I feel the same as Ordinary. When he is sad, I am sad, when he is scared and insecure, I am scared and insecure. This has never happened to me before while reading. Wow.
Ordinary tells his father about the pen and how he’s really not sure what to do. However, his father tells him that he was once visited by the Giver of Dreams; he was too scared to turn away from Familiar in search of his Big Dream. Tells him to do it. Ordinary, with the tranquility of his father, leaves his comfort zone, the Land of the Familiar. As he moves further and further away from Familiar, he becomes more and more questioned and scared. He wonders if he can do this or if the dream is too big for him. Along the journey he meets friends and family who let their fears interrupt his thinking about the future and he doubts himself even more. Every time he looks at the pen for reassurance and remembers what his father told him.
The reason this book resonated with me is that I am in Ordinary’s place, if he had it. I am in search of a vision that I think I have had all this time. I’m still chasing him at the age of 40. There were times while reading this book that I thought I had no way of getting my vision, but as I read more about Ordinary I realized that until I no longer have a heartbeat, I still Have that vision and you can still bring it to life.
Many people will be obstacles standing between you and your vision. Some may be family or friends. It’s not that they don’t believe in you, it’s that they don’t want to lose what you have with them. Therefore, they are not prepared to follow their dream; their big dreams are more than they can handle. Maybe they don’t want to see you fall, either. Little do they know that when you follow that big dream, nothing and I mean that nothing big or small will stop you from doing it? The only obstacle is YOU.
Ordinary finally reached his Big Dream with the help of the Dream Giver. He found that believing in his dream and the Dream Giver kept him focused and kept his vision in his head. The word NO does not exist when we are really motivated. It is NOT replaced by “find another way”, and it will. Ordinary used the truth and his intelligence to think of everyone who stood in his way. Many times he reflected on what to do for more than a day, in the end he decided to continue following what the Giver of Dreams had given him, a DREAM.
