I dreamt that I awoke to find myself flying an airplane, but I'd been asleep in the cockpit for an unknown length of time, so I had no idea where I was, but I knew I needed to get out of the clouds, so I dropped down to find that I was just above the ground and able to land quickly and easily. The place where I found myself was at the very bottom of the world, a place called Port au Charles, in a land of paradise for people with disabilities, a place where they were accepted just as they are, with support for what they need, and jobs aplenty that they were able to do, and everyone walked around full of joy and warmth.
I don't even know what I would do in a place like this, a place where everyone was accepted even with their limitations, and provided with everything they need to succeed and be happy all of the time. Could there actually be such a place?
This dream has allowed me to ask some different questions about the nature of my journey, questions about what my needs really are, and what I would need to feel supported to succeed and feel happy all of the time. Happiness isn't really something I put a lot of stock into, but from this dream I could see more clearly that the people of Port au Charles were happy because they were accepted as they were and supported with what they needed to succeed. . . . and this kind of environment was what brought about their happiness rather than what they did (or even why).
It also makes clear that happiness is not a direct need. To make the statement, "I need to be or feel happy" is a meaningless statement, because there is nothing directly to be done to meet this need. Now I see that happiness is something that arises on its own when my needs are met, so my focus naturally shifts away from the desire to feel or be happy to looking at what my needs actually are, and then how they can best be met. I think it's very possible that a lack of happiness is really nothing more than a chronic environment that is unable (or unwilling) to meet my needs, and this awareness will change everything. . . .
The other surprising truth emerging from this dream is that I have not been acknowledging the needs that are being met by the environment I currently find myself in. . . .but that's because I haven't been focusing directly on what my needs are, but rather on how miserable and unhappy I feel. . . .so I'm embracing this wonderful new place I have discovered in my dreams, this Port au Charles at the bottom most part of the earth, a paradise for the people of special needs. . . .lol