I am writing today from the middle of my dreaming period. Between the dark of the Winter Solstice and the next new moon, I find myself in a strange flux–of charged energy wanting to dash forward and a sacred, momentous pause. Many will argue that the truest start of the new year is actually in spring time, when leaves turn green and early flowers bloom. This is the natural time of movement, flow, and growth. But that is only true if we equate a beginning to a giant leap forward, and in my personal experience–with the cycles I’ve lived through–that is simply not the case. Beginnings and endings aren’t so distinct that we can truly tell them apart. The dreaming period is a time where we can honour both what has been completed, and what is yet to come.

What Changes If We Begin With Dreaming Instead Of Action?

Many people have forgotten how to dream. Whether in our beds at night, or even in our minds during the day, we may find it difficult to plan beyond our immediate schedule and needs. Truthfully, if I had not also been sick with a head cold during this holiday pause, I would have already been acting on my plans that have been percolating in my mind.

Instead I was given a pause. The head cold, the sore throat, the lost voice, and the brain fog were gifts. They reminded me we can’t dream if we don’t rest.

This is the key–the lesson–in dreaming. Dreaming requires a restful state. A pause. A release of urgency and even practicality. Asleep or awake, dreaming necessitates a pause to what we know is true in the physical world, and what might be true in our futures.

But, with our lives and schedules run by clocks beyond our control, we don’t have time to access this dreaming period. Dreaming time isn’t built into the routines and cycles of our businesses or communities. Board meetings are packed with actionable items and a desire to use time “wisely”, but how can it be wise if we don’t allow ourselves time to let these big ideas and plans settle?

We need pauses. We need cycles of rest and being to allow ideas to connect, form, and mature.

Speaking for myself, I know I barely had a minute to turn from wrapping up 2025 tasks to planning how I wanted to move into the New Year. If I were to set New Years resolutions, they would have become flat–repetitions of what most people would expect to hear. Shifting the beginning of 2026 to honour dreaming has both moved me away from urgency, and allowed me to be intentional in how I move forward in this new cycle.

What Does A Dreaming Period Look Like?

Personally, my dreaming period honours the paradox in my energy right now. It is a space to bring in grace, and remind myself I am capable of holding both the energy of rest and expansion at the same time.

Dreaming with mindfulness

It’s also an opportunity to draw mindfulness into my days. When I slip into old habits, I don’t judge or force a sense of failure. Rather, I root into awareness. I choose to either continue that action or make a different choice. If I continue, I simply ask why.

Right now, I find a lot of the habits I wish to drop are really a desire to escape the monotony of the holidays. When I’m not actively working on Vibrant Systems, I end up scrolling social media, sometimes endlessly. It’s not a place to judge (though I certainly could) but to consciously choose something different. Is this helping me be the best version of myself? Not usually. So, with mindfulness, how can I allow myself to make a different choice?

Opening the door the bigger dreams

Another element of a dreaming period is reminding myself that it is safe to dream bigger. It is safe to desire unlikely outcomes. It is safe to make wishes. It is safe to want more.

For years, I resisted dreaming because the feeling of disappointment hurt too much. As I’ve navigated balance in my life, particularly with my thoughts and emotions, I learned to see them as parts of my whole self. As painful as disappointment can feel, I’ve learned that my dreaming periods stoke my inner fire–my desire to drive change and work passionately towards what I care about. Yes, my dreams may be impractical. They may not come into being the way I expect. But, the process of allowing myself to dream in impractical and improbable ways is part of what brings me into balance.

I have to thank Elements of Self for bringing these lessons to me–if you resonate, check out the video course in the Vibrant Shop.

This balance–that I’m still learning–has helped me befriend my hope, curiosity, and excitement for the future. Moving into a new year with excitement for the mysteries it holds is a gift that comes from allowing myself to dream. In the dark of winter, many traditions celebrate the return of the light, because this light represents hope, excitement, and growth. Starting this new cycle cultivating this light within ourselves honours both the beginning and the rest that this time calls for.

We can’t make a vision board for our most authentic goals if we haven’t taken the time to understand what those goals actually are.

Dreaming Periods Aren’t Just Personal

One of the intoxicating possibilities with dreaming periods really comes when we ask the question, “What would it look like to cultivate and celebrate dreaming periods in our community?”.

In my experience, top down solutions or strategies developed in a board room don’t ignite community members to a shared action. They weren’t part of the dreaming period. Realistically, those board room strategies don’t actually leave space for dreams either. They want to be rational, logical, and actionable.

Spaces that seek to create a ready-to-act plan don’t create the necessary soil for long-term vision to take root.

By both neglecting the input of community members and staying solely within the confines of what we perceive as possible, these strategic plans are lacklustre. They don’t inspire action or involvement. They create an environment where “we know best” and therefore, why should community members get more involved?

On the other hand, I’ve witnessed the power of movements that actively invite the dreams and aspirations of community members. The St. Paul Champions for Change in Alberta is an excellent example of a grassroots organization that not only pursues meaningful community goals, but invites community participation and new ideas.

This is the energy that movements described in adrienne maree brown’s book, Emergent Strategy, inspire.

Vibrant Systems Wants To Celebrate Your Dreams

Vibrant Systems is my dream. As such, dreaming periods like this one are pivotal to how I operate as a business owner and individual. But practicing dreaming doesn’t just help me. It adds something intoxicating and transformational into the mix for communities of all scales.

Dreaming doesn’t rely on what has worked in the past. It doesn’t stop at good enough.

When we dream–and when we allow others to dream with us–we can imagine a future that is far better than what we’d write down in a strategic plan. While it may not be easy to reach, and how it looks in practice will likely be very different than we imagined, the action of dreaming gives us access to something powerful.

It gives us access to hope.

As a Community Mentor, it is my honour to help communities and community champions dream. Together, we expand the perceptions of what is possible. This expansion is the first step in transforming our personal and communal lives into something incredible.

And if this is a skill you’d like to tap into, I invite you to check out my resource, the Transforming Communities Guidebook, so you can start down this vibrant path today.