What is the Difference Between a Dreamer and a Visionary?

I have often thought of myself as a dreamer. I always considered this to be a good thing, as I thought that it was what made me think of things and live my life differently. Then I came across a saying that made me re-evaluate this idea. I don't remember exactly where I read it, but it said something to the fact that a dreamer is someone who thinks of things, while a visionary is someone who does the things that they dream about.

What's the Difference?

Basically, it comes down to action. Just about anyone can sit and dream of what they want in life; a caring spouse, a nice place to live, a job that they love doing, but not everyone actually has these things in their life. How many people do you know look at something fantastic, such as traveling the world, and say "Oh, I would love to do that!" I'm sure you have heard this quite often. Or how about yourself, when you say, "One day I am going to get that house that is perfect for me and my family?" The world is full of dreams and those that dream them, but how many of them actually become a reality? If it was the majority, we wouldn't have newspapers making a big deal of people who do live their dreams. If this was the norm, it wouldn't be such a celebrated, and envied, wonder. The truth is that few people realize their dreams. They remain just that, a dream in one's mind. 

That's where visions come in. I'm not talking about mystical apparitions that appear when you've taken some painkillers or are deprived of oxygen for a little too long, I'm talking about a vision of something that you shape and hold in your mind and heart. Something that you want so badly that you will do what it takes to make sure that it becomes a reality. 

So What's the Big Deal?

When I thought about this idea it really made sense. What is the point of dreams if they never happen? You will only end up regretting the things that you wanted out of life but didn't get. That's when I realized that many of my dreams had actually been visions, and that many of them needed to become that. 

My husband and I have had some great visions. We wanted to get married, so we did. We wanted to live in San Francisco, so we upped and moved there. We wanted to go to school, so we scrimped, saved, borrowed, and did whatever else we could to ensure that this happened. We wanted to try out the East Coast of the US, so my husband accepted a scholarship to attend law school in Massachusetts. We wanted to see what New York City was like, so we both transferred schools. We wanted to travel the world, so we arranged trips to Mexico, Europe, Thailand and Southeast Asia, Costa Rica, Panama, and most recently Egypt. We wanted to have our own business so we started with Etsy. People thought these were things that would remain dreams: things that we couldn't do. It was important to us, however, and most importantly, we took a plan of action. 

Is That What this Blog is About?

This is part of what this blog is about. We have come to a point in our lives where we feel that it is time to do
more to shape how we want it to be. We are tired of putting off certain goals in order to finish school, or do this or that. Like many people, we have become frustrated with trying to live life in the scripted way that is presented to us by society. We have felt that we have let ourselves be held back because everyone else has said that certain things couldn't be done. We have done a lot, but we haven't done enough!

Even though I still have another semester of undergraduate school to complete, I wanted to refine our visions. I want them to be ready for when the time comes to act more fully. If I leave off acting, then they remain dreams and I will be disappointed. This blog is a place for me to refine and act on my visions while also encouraging and helping others to do the same. If more of us did this, we could go incredibly far as a society and people. What's stopping us? Nothing now! So join my in my journey and hopefully get some inspiration for your own as well.