Re-enfranchised

To disenfranchise means to take away what rightfully belongs to someone.

To enfranchise means to give it back.

To re-enfranchise means to right the wrongs done.

Really?

No. I made that last one up.

But when did we lose the right to dream? I’d like it back, please. Re-enfranchise me.

How do you re-enfranchise a dreamer?

Give her a pen and a voice. And coffee. Never underestimate the power of coffee and a girl with a dream.

As a Mama Bear, I gaze lovingly at my amazing and empathic son. After having my challenges in life, I realize just how valuable his intuitive, sensitive, and creative nature is. He is disabled, by legal definition, yet his brilliant ability to create and solve far supersedes the ways others view him as diminished. But there is no room for him, and other highly sensitive Baby Bears like him, in this harsh and hostile terrain we live in. As of yet.

As of yet. It has yet to be created.

And I plan to keep creating it. Until it exists.

I wonder… are you a disenfranchised daydreamer?

As a disenfranchised dreamer for much of my life, I know the hollow droning sound of a world that tells me to toughen up. To ‘deal with what is.’ To look at what exists now and manage it and navigate it the best you can. Work in the system. Make do. This is as good as it gets. Get smaller and quieter to fit in it nicely. And most of all, settle. Do not imagine a better world because all that exists and will ever exist is right here in front of you now.

Because they say you can’t have it. They claim it’s not possible. That’s the message that has been reinforced in my psyche.

But I know they are wrong. Because I can see what they cannot.

I imagine a just world where everyone gets a seat at the table, where uniqueness is celebrated, and where salvation means making room to create something beautiful simply out of imagination. Where love is the answer to most questions. And healers are revered and magical beings who don’t always belong to the AMA. And all the superpowers matter. Where life is measured in butterflies and mercy. Where love is love no matter who or what.

And yet to imagine a just world such as this is considered merely the stuff that sixties pop music icons and poets with a loose connection to reality only write about. Having a dream is a good way to get you murdered.

Is there room for such dreams as we daydream believers dream in the harsh and hostile terrain in which we live?

Of course. Give us a minute. It has yet to be created.

Distilled into three simple words for today, the tonic is: Yes I Can

Looking for bite-sized daily wisdom, hope, and encouragement? Check out “Lessons in the Key of Today” on the Divine Moonshine YouTube channel.

Would you like a way to say thanks? You can now buy me a cup of coffee! And thank YOU.