“My destiny is me,” said Emile, the Bulgarian, in his heavy accent, as we drove home in natural gas powered car from the airport. I was struck by his innocent, yet somehow quite evolved, sense of self. I was recently asked, “What do you think is the most important gift a parent can give a child?” Aside of course from the obvious roles of “good parenting”, which of course vary greatly from parent to parent but are presumably rooted in some form of nurturing and love, I found two things came to mind. 1. To give a child the gift of seeing his or her parent’s eyes light up every time he/she walks into the room, and 2. To give him or her a feeling of self-efficacy.

The Bulgarian, with is passion and faith in bringing his dreams to fruition made me realize I don’t often hear my American peers and colleagues so openly sharing their dreams. For fear of failure? Perhaps even embarrassment or some sense of shame? Is this part of why the vapid gossip magazines do so well, filled with the shallow dreams-come-true of many not famous for much more than being famous? Or why we so often look to blame others rather than change one’s self? It may seem a stretch, but if our collective consciousness has become one of victim and fear is that not perhaps part of why we find ourselves in the global conditions of today?

Perhaps it is because I am reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose but given the environmental, social and economic ills we face during this time in history, it seems a perfect time, for each of us to take responsibility for our actions and reconnect to the greater whole rather than stay stuck in a place of guilt, fear, shame. To step up passionately to our dreams and take responsibility for wherever we are. You see people who are there. Who are on their way. Their eyes glow. They enjoy the present. They are good at what they do and they know it but there is an absence of arrogance. Having just met Erica Ehm, a Canadian celeb and founder of Yummy Mummy, I think of her, with her sense of power and vulnerability so beautifully balanced. As Tolle writes, “Wherever there is inspiration, which translates as “in spirit,” and enthusiasm, which means “in God,” there is a creative empowerment that goes far beyond what any mere person is capable of.

Shortly, I’ll be off to pick up Corbin from school and we are going to spend the afternoon together, dreaming, playing, flowing, being. And I hope in creating enough of these moments for him, he will be better prepared to find his purpose and feel good in doing so.