I am not defined by my nightmares. I am called by my dreams. And I choose to become the dream and the dreamcatcher
We no longer ask for permission to dream
Even if our Souls cry tears that fill life’s streams,
We pray for the day while inhabiting the night,
knowing that sometimes the clouds will block the truth of light
Affirming Caterpillars will fly, and I don’t have to know why
And God is real, and the Sky never lied.
Tonight, we dream in the Spirit of MLK
Butterfly Monday – January 19, 2026
Healing Station Zoom: 6:00 PM EST
Join Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88324556318?pwd=QlNsT3lLWnc0alo3K09nN0JoaFNxQT09
Tomorrow, we create a brand-new day. This Butterfly Monday invites us to stop measuring healing by how little pain we feel and start measuring it by how boldly we dream. This week, we stop praying for nightmares to end and start affirming the dreams we are. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., we remember that transformation begins with vision, affirmation, and dreams. Join us on this transformative journey as we step into the sacred space where our divine dreams and courageous hearts meet. Many of us have asked: “How do I begin to dream again?” In the spirit of our ancestors, we will discuss some answers. Join us as we explore how trauma has affected our ability to dream and how reclaiming affirmations reignites our power to become dreamcatchers. We’re not just dreaming; we’re remembering.
Trauma taught us to be cautious, but healing invites us to be creative. When we dream again, we are not ignoring what happened. We are deciding what happens next, and that choice is revolutionary.
Join us as we:
Release fear’s influence on our ability to dream
Reclaim dreaming as a healing practice
Become Dreamcatchers for ourselves and our communities
I. Introduction
Much of modern healing language centers on nightmares, including trauma, harm, fear, loss, and survival. While naming pain is necessary, it cannot be the destination. Healing that only prays for nightmares to end leaves people awake… but not alive. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., Love More offers a reframing: Healing is not the absence of nightmares. Healing is the restoration of the dream.
Dr. King did not organize people around their greatest fear. He organized them around what they dared to imagine together.
II. The Problem: Trauma Colonizes Imagination
Trauma does not wound only the body or memory; it co-ops the imagination.
When trauma dominates our narratives:
• Dreams shrink
• Hope feels dangerous
• Imagination is labeled unrealistic
• Vision is replaced with vigilance
• Survival becomes the ceiling instead of the floor
Many people are not failing to heal because they lack effort. They are struggling because their dreaming muscle has been injured.
We Pray:
• “Make the pain stop.”
• “Help me get through.”
• “Let me survive this.”
Instead of affirming:
• “What is still possible for me?”
• “What wants to be born through me?”
• “What future is calling my name?”
III. The MLK Frame: Dreams as Moral Architecture
Dr. King’s dream was not a fantasy. It was moral imagination, the ability to envision a future that does not yet exist, and the resolve to live toward it anyway.
Key principles drawn from the spirit of MLK:
• Dreams are collective, not individual escape plans
• Dreams are discipline, not denial
• Dreams are strategic hope, not naïve optimism
• Dreams are acts of resistance in fear-based systems
To embrace the dream is to refuse to let trauma write the final draft.
IV. From Nightmares to Dreamcatchers
In Love More language, healing invites us to become dreamcatchers:
• Catching dreams before fear erases them
• Protecting imagination from trauma’s red pen
• Teaching ourselves, children, families, and communities how to dream again
• Reclaiming innocence without ignoring history
We are not pretending nightmares never happened. We are refusing to let them define what comes next.
V. Implications for Healing, Leadership, and Community
Embracing the dream:
• Shifts healing from coping → creating
• Moves justice from reaction → reimagination
• Transforms leadership from managing pain → cultivating possibility
• Restores joy as a legitimate healing outcome
The goal is not to suppress the nightmares; It is to dream so boldly that nightmares lose their authority.
VI. Conclusion
In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., we do not gather to ask for permission out of fear.
We gather to declare:
“There is a reality for me that is bigger than the pain.”
“There is hope for my authentic self.”
“There is a dream still alive inside me.”
And from that divine, authentic place, we build.
INTERACTIVE EXERCISE
The Inner Dreamcatcher Practice
Step 1: Name the Nightmare (Release)
• One fear that has limited my dreaming is:
• One dream trauma told me was “too much” is:
Step 2: Find the Untouched Space
Place a hand on your heart and reflect:
• Where in me has hope survived quietly?
• What dream keeps whispering, “Try again”?
Step 3: Affirm the Dream (Activation)
Complete and speak aloud or write:
“I affirm my right to dream beyond my trauma.
I give imagination permission to lead again.”
TRANSFORMATION QUIZ
Are You Dreaming from Fear or from Faith?
Rate 1–5 (1 = Not true, 5 = Very true)
- I believe my future can be bigger than my past.
- I allow myself to imagine joy without guilt.
- I don’t immediately dismiss my dreams as unrealistic.
- I feel permission to hope again.
- I can dream without explaining or defending it.
- I believe my dreams matter to the world.
- I trust imagination as a healing tool.
Scoring
• 28–35 → Dream Activated
• 18–27 → Dream Reawakening
• 7–17 → Dream Repair Needed (Perfect Place to Begin)
Finish this Reflection for Transformative Journeyers:
“One dream I am ready to affirm again is…”
We are becoming the “Social Architects” who will design our healing and transformation. Let’s affirm and manifest our divine cocoons together. #WeAreTheButterflyEffect
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We Love More Dr.Bruce 