What Hugh Grant taught me in a dream...

© Jenn Shallvey 2015

I woke up to one of those vivid dreams again. This one was not so profound as others. But I really enjoyed it. The fact that Hugh Grant starred in it wasn’t bad.  But that’s not the point.

The details that are relevant...

I remember being in the countryside, in a bucolic town with Edwardian homes and rolling grass hills, alongside a wide mouthed river.  For some reason I was visiting with Hugh. Yes, in the dream we were on a first name basis.  He was on a break from set-filming some country based period piece.  It was platonic in case you are going anywhere with YOUR imagination!  

We spoke about the movie location.  The next thing I see is his face right in front of mine. It was so close I could see the pasty theatre-level makeup thickly applied to his face filling the lines of his skin. He wore no glasses, I did. So he took my glasses off and our eyes met. (Again I remind you this was a platonic dream - darn!)

We just stared at each other not speaking. I asked if he needed glasses to see far or near and he said far. I said me too. We remarked at how strange it is to need glasses to have vision of what is far away from you. We talked about how easy it would be if we just had to look at what was right in front of us.

Then he got called to set and had to move to a new location.

As he walked away with other members of the cast and crew, I yelled over to him (yes you can do that in dreams!)  I asked at the top of my lungs,

“Hugh do you want to make a positive difference in this world?”

He yelled back in his familiar accent and a cheeky grin,

“Of course I do!”

I then replied,

“Well then being a person of influence what are you going to do about it?”

He was gone before he could reply. Darn!

I decided to leave the place and go my own way walking along the tree lined streets. There were set people cleaning up, fans and locals dispersing, even a lady with a cart and small animals that had apparently been used for the scene now returning to her farm.

Then a cleaning lady went by on a ride on street vacuum of sorts. She was cleaning the footpath. I suddenly realised that I did not have a key given to me earlier. It was about to be vacuumed.   I ran fast and luckily retrieved the key. The key was a special one of a kind skeleton key. I had no idea what it opened. I just knew I needed it to unlock something somewhere someday. Vague, I know, but it was a dream!

I kept walking through the community, now in search of my car. I saw people in all sorts of homes - big houses, apartments, new and old dwellings. There was diversity to match the people I kept seeing.  I saw an old couple in a window having dinner at the table. I passed by school kids laughing and playing. I scooted around a group of teenagers in uniform off to play a basketball game. It all felt pleasant and peaceful. I wanted to live there.

Everyone looked at me and smiled. I did not know why. Then I looked down and noticed that I was clutching a white polo shirt in my hand. It was Hugh’s. I must have grabbed it by accident. I turned it over. Decorated on the back in silver writing in fancy script in a circle like a logo was a design and message from a popular pearl company. The pearls from this company are known for their uniqueness, value and quality.  The company is also sustainable and philanthropic in it's practices.  A nice bit of wisdom from a shirt I thought - yes a ‘pearl of wisdom’ (had to say it).

Yes this whole experience was about wisdom-what we gain from our life and our own experience and what we do with this insight.  It is also about noticing this wisdom and valuing it no matter how it comes to you.

What is interesting about wisdom is that we don’t get it delivered to us spelled out in a manual. No it comes through our own reflection. It comes sometimes in dreams. It comes in any way that will get our attention.

So I reflected further on this dream and from it realised that the wisdom is not just mine. I could tell you what I see. But what I want is for you to discover your own wisdom.

I shared this seemingly light-hearted little anecdote to invite you to reflect.  After reading this story what do YOU get? What do YOU notice that stands out? What is YOUR meaning?

That’s the power of asking. That’s the power of reflection. That’s the power of wisdom. We all share it.

I would LOVE to know YOUR insight.