Rekindling Dreams: A Journey from Darkness to Hopes

Another case unfolds, a man with a story both challenging and poignant. He grapples with severe, persistent mental illness, accompanied by a long-term history of alcohol and substance abuse— the worst kind of substance abuse that opens the door to a myriad of mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

When you hear his story, it becomes clear why he turned to such substances; they served as a refuge, a means to quiet the tumultuous storm within his mind, a response to the haunting memories of his traumatic past. Yet now, he finds himself at a crossroads, faced with significant questions that echo in the silence of his thoughts.

He confesses, “All I know what to live for is to rekindle—or at least die trying—to reconnect once again with my child.” This expression reveals an incredible, meaning-driven drive that sustains his will to live. “I don’t want to die. I want to live,” he asserts, a powerful declaration amidst his turmoil. “I don’t know what to live for, but I know what I don’t want, and I know what I dream of.”

In response, I tell him that before identifying what to live for, he must first recognize what he no longer wants in his life. Next, he must cultivate a dream—at least a dream he can hold onto. Some may criticize this pursuit as unrealistic, but I argue: if you have no dream, then what is there to live for? Is not life but a dream in itself? Better yet, are our lives not a series of interconnected dreams, woven together in the collective mind of the transcendent?

In this exploration of desire and despair, we find the seeds of hope, waiting to be nurtured and brought to fruition.

(c)2024 John Piedrahita