A Waking Dream

Multitasking has become a way of life in today’s fast-paced, profit-driven corporate world.  There is an assumption that efficiency and productivity are increased by having a few workers do the work of the many. 

Our performance in the workplace is tied to our job security, our material well being, and ultimately our sense of self-worth.

While eating a sandwich on lunch break, we may find ourselves making a business call to a client or planning next week’s presentation and forget altogether that we are eating.

As if our hectic schedules are not enough, we must make time for our families, friends, and religious and civic obligations– obligations that are all too often fulfilled as matters of duty rather than opportunities to be more present in own lives and those around us.

The fast-paced, high-pressure life that revolves around material accumulation is one made necessary by society’s emphasis on economic and technological progress. Lagging behind is our capacity to make sense of our chaotic lifestyles and to find meaning in the hustle and bustle of everyday living. 

This kind of life may make us financially secure, give us good social standing, and yet leave us in a spiritual vacuum.

Much of our lives are spent in a sort of waking dream in which we are half-awake and half-asleep.

It is a dream because we are seldom fully aware of who we are or why we do the things we do.  While reality itself unfolds in a continuous and wholesome manner, our perception of it is often distorted and fragmentary. 

We simply respond to the demands and expectations of everyday life by force of habit, without really participating in the creation of our own reality. 

Often we would react to the people and circumstances we encounter only to later regret our actions.  Although our lives may at times seem like an extended dream, the struggles that we face are very real.