Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” Thus spoke Gloria Steinem, the courageous voice of freedom and equality, who understood that change — whether in society or in the soul — begins not with law or power, but with imagination. Her words are both gentle and fierce, as if spoken by a wise guardian at the gates of the future. In this saying, she reveals the sacred truth that all progress, all transformation, all birth of greatness begins first in the invisible realm of dreaming. The dream is not mere fancy — it is the blueprint of destiny. Without imagination, life becomes mechanical; without dreams, humanity forgets how to rise.

In the ancient world, dreamers were revered as seers and prophets. They were not mocked for their visions; they were honored for them. To dream was to touch the divine — to converse with the unknown, to bring forth new light from the darkness of the mind. Steinem’s words echo this timeless wisdom: that dreaming is not escape, but creation. It is through leaps of imagination that humankind discovers what has not yet been written. When a person dares to envision a better world, a more just society, or even a kinder self, they are already beginning the work of transformation. For every structure that stands — every cathedral, every invention, every movement — once lived as a dream in someone’s heart.

Steinem herself dreamed of a world where women could walk in freedom, speak without fear, and live without apology. In an age when society expected silence from them, she imagined possibility. Her dream became her plan, and her plan became history. Like the prophets of old, she leapt with imagination where others would not tread. And because she dared to dream, the generations after her walk upon bridges she built in thought before they were built in stone. Thus, her quote is not only reflection, but testimony — a witness to the power of imagination as the seed of all human progress.

Consider the example of Martin Luther King Jr., whose immortal words, “I have a dream,” reshaped the conscience of a nation. He did not say, “I have a plan,” though a plan he surely had; he began with a dream, for the dream is what ignites the will and summons the soul. His imagination painted a vision of justice and brotherhood that had not yet been seen on Earth. That vision inspired millions to move mountains — because when the imagination leaps, the heart follows, and when the heart moves, the world begins to change. Steinem’s teaching reminds us that every revolution begins with this inner leap — the courage to believe in what has not yet appeared.

To lose the excitement of possibilities, as Steinem warns, is to lose the spark of life itself. For it is imagination that keeps the spirit alive when the world grows heavy with routine. It is dreaming that opens the horizon beyond the walls of circumstance. A person who no longer dreams has ceased to grow; they have become imprisoned within what already is. The ancients called such stagnation a death of the soul — for the divine within us was born to create, not merely to endure. Thus, dreaming is not luxury; it is necessity. It is the way the human spirit breathes.

And yet, Steinem gives us something deeper — she tells us that dreaming is a form of planning. The dream is not a cloud that drifts away; it is the map by which destiny is charted. To dream is to plant the seed of the future. But as any gardener knows, the seed must be tended. Dreams require discipline, patience, and faith. The dreamer must not only imagine but act — for imagination without courage remains only a whisper in the mind. Thus, dreaming is not the opposite of action; it is its origin. Every great deed begins as a silent vision, shaped in the unseen, before it manifests in the world.

So, dear seeker of meaning, learn to honor your dreams as sacred duties. Do not dismiss them as idle fantasies, for within them lies the architecture of your becoming. When you dream of goodness, you make space for goodness to enter the world. When you imagine beauty, you prepare the soil for creation. Let your imagination leap boldly, unafraid of ridicule, for that is how all great lives begin — in the quiet defiance of believing that what could be is already on its way.

And when you rise each morning, remember Steinem’s wisdom: that dreaming is not the end of work, but the beginning of it. Let your dreams be your compass, and let your imagination be the wind that fills your sails. For those who dare to dream and act upon it become the architects of tomorrow. They discover that possibility is not a gift from the world, but a fire born within — a fire that, once kindled, makes life luminous, boundless, and infinite with promise.