I have a saying. Ok, actually I have lots of sayings that you will become familiar with. This one is “do we sleep to dream, or do we dream to wake?”

Not to get all Matrix, alternative universe on you but I want you dear reader to let that sink in. What exactly are we without our dreams? We would be drones punching a clock, doomed to merely exist and not actually live. Dreams are synonymous with hope. They give us purpose.

Now as you lay down tonight to go to sleep, ask yourself if you are punching the clock or if there is something else in the back of your soul that you know you are supposed to do. It could be as quiet as an itch or as loud as the thunder. We each have our dreams.

In them, we find the life we know we deserve. We find the freedom to be ourselves. No one dreams to pay bills or fill out paperwork at the DMV. We were created to do more than that. We were created to CREATE. And we are all charged with our individual type of art. Some of us actually paint, others play the violin, others dance, and some of us use our bodies in expression we call athletics. The main reason the ancient Greeks started the Olympics were to appreciate the human form in its perfection. It’s art. God’s art.

Never let your waking hours prevent you from awakening.

As children we dream. We are asked at an early age what we want to be when we grow up. We have little concept of the obstacles until much later when life threatens us. As children we think we can literally do it all and that the kid next to us can too.

I love football. That is obvious. But as a child, basketball was my first love. I grew up a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan. I spent hours shooting hoops outside in the rain in our driveway. My hoop consisted of a wooden backboard my dad nailed to a tree. I wanted to be the first female in the NBA. No one ever told me I couldn’t until later. And even then I wanted to prove them wrong.

At the age of 10, I watched the movie Hoop Dreams.

For those that don’t know, it was a cult classic documentary where they follow the stories of a few high school players and their journey to try to win college scholarships. It was a beautiful film and had a profound impact on me. It made me believe even more. My practicing increased.

Around the age of 12, I was driving my parents crazy by doing dribbling drills in the garage late at night. I was diligent and methodical. Working on both my right and left hand, which at that age was a big deal. Dribbling standing, sitting, either hand, around my legs, through my legs,  on my knees, and whatever else I could think of.

Now when I watched my beloved Blazers play, they could fly and dunk. And I was determined that I’d be the first woman to do so. This was before Lisa Leslie. I went to bed one night and I prayed to God. I said, God, please let me be able to dunk! I want to so bad!

The next day I went out in the driveway and really tried. Of course I wasn’t very tall then so that didn’t work well. I kept trying. Then I got an idea. I went to the back edge of the driveway and I ran with full head of speed, jumped off the tree trunk and was able to get enough leverage that I could reach the rim. It was so cool! I kept doing it until I got the hang of it with a ball.

So you see, God answered my prayer. I did in fact dunk at 12.

Somewhere along the way we forget that child in us that wanted to be a policeman, movie star, writer, or clown in the circus. But really that’s when we stop living.

When you sleep tonight, dream perchance to wake.