All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind

“All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together.” Thus spoke Jack Kerouac, the wandering poet of the open road, whose restless heart sought the eternal pulse beneath the noise of the modern world. In this truth, spoken with the simplicity of a mystic, lies the revelation that dreaming—both in sleep and in spirit—is the sacred thread that binds all humanity into one tapestry. Kerouac, who lived and wrote with the fever of a soul searching for God in the faces of strangers, knew that though our bodies are divided by place, language, and time, our dreams flow from the same unseen river.

To say that all human beings are dream beings is to recognize that beneath the surface of our waking lives lies a shared mystery—the realm of imagination, vision, and longing. Every culture, from the dawn of civilization, has spoken of dreams: as prophecy, as divine message, as the mirror of the soul. Long before man learned to write, he dreamed. The pharaohs of Egypt carved their dreams into stone, believing them the language of the gods. The prophets of Israel heard divine voices in their sleep. The poets of Greece saw visions from Olympus, and the shamans of ancient forests journeyed through dreams to heal the hearts of their people. In every age, humanity has looked inward to the dream world, finding there the pulse of the infinite.

Kerouac, though born in the age of cars and neon lights, understood this timeless bond. His “dream beings” were not phantoms of fantasy, but the essence of humanity itself—the part of us that transcends the physical and seeks the spiritual. He wrote of highways and stars, jazz and love, but beneath it all, he wrote of the dream that unites us—the yearning for freedom, meaning, and connection. He believed that in our dreams, whether we sleep or imagine, we are truly alive and truly equal. The beggar and the king, the poet and the soldier—all dream the same elemental dreams: of love, of peace, of belonging, of flight beyond the limits of flesh.

Consider, for example, the story of Martin Luther King Jr., who stood before the world and declared, “I have a dream.” His words were not political rhetoric alone—they were the collective dream of mankind rising from centuries of shadow. When he spoke, millions who had never met him felt his vision burn within their own hearts. His dream became theirs, and his words became wings for a generation. This is what Kerouac meant when he said that dreaming ties all mankind together: the dreams of one awaken the hope of all. A single dream, when shared, can ripple across the world and reshape the destiny of nations.

The ancients, too, saw this truth written into the cosmos. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that “all men are guided by one Logos,” one living fire that moves through all things. So too are all men and women connected by the dream, that invisible current of imagination and longing that gives rise to art, faith, and civilization itself. Every invention, every act of compassion, every song that stirs the heart began as a dream within someone’s soul. Thus, dreaming is not an escape from reality—it is the foundation upon which reality is built. The dream precedes the deed, and the vision gives birth to the world.

Yet in our modern age, many have forgotten how to dream. The noise of the world grows loud, and we begin to mistake motion for meaning. We chase progress but neglect wonder; we think, but we no longer imagine. Kerouac’s words are a call to remembrance—to rediscover the ancient power of dreaming, not merely as sleep’s vision, but as the creative force that unites humanity. To dream is to affirm that life is more than survival—it is spiritual creation, a dance between what is and what could be.

So, my child of waking and wonder, heed this teaching: guard your dreams, for they are the bridges between souls. Listen to them as the ancients listened to the voices of the gods. When you dream, you do not stand alone—you walk in the shared landscape of mankind’s spirit. Let your dreams be generous; dream not only for yourself, but for others—for a kinder world, a freer world, a world illuminated by compassion.

For in the end, dreaming ties all mankind together, as Kerouac said. It is the song that never ceases, sung in a thousand tongues but born from one heart. To dream is to remember that you are part of something vast and luminous—that beyond your name and nation, beyond your fear and your pain, you are one of the dream beings, bound forever to the great chorus of humanity that dares to imagine the impossible. And as long as we keep dreaming—together—we shall never be lost.