Wake My Dream. Mentor Me

It is so important for every individual to learn their special gifts and talents, the things they can contribute back to their communities. In tribal times young people were encouraged in a "right of passage" to uncover their personal dream. It was this dream when developed, that brought help and harmony to the tribe. Developing the dream takes time. It is important to dream the dream of your gift when you are young. We can mentor each other through this process of discovery.

Exercise 1:

Almost everyone has seen or heard of "American Idol." We all understand the dream to become a celebrity and we have been enthusiastic in our support of our favorite singer in the American Idol competitions. If you were a mentor for an American Idol hopeful, how would you support and encourage that person to help them realize their dream to perform in the competition?

What if the person you were mentoring could not sing well enough to compete? How would you encourage and support that person to find a new dream that could be realized?

Each and every person has a gift to bring to others. Make a list of people you have known who have brought something special into your life.

How can we discover the special gifts people have to share that are not so obvious as a good singing voice?

In my girl's group there was a young woman who was always letting us know when other people were not sticking to the rules of the group. That was her talent. We made her the Rule Keeper. She was so good at keeping the rules that we all said she should study to become a lawyer.

We had another young woman in our group who always carried a dairy with her. She wrote down every thought and every feeling all day long. We all thought she would make a good writer or researcher.

One of the ways you can discover the talents of others is by watching what they do.

How many different talents or gifts can one person have to bring? How many dreams can one person develop in their lifetime?

The goal of mentoring is to encourage and support another person to recognize their gifts and to develop those gifts. The gifts we have are what create our dreams.

Find a partner and study one another. See if you can discover your gifts together. Write about these discoveries in your notebooks. Learn from each other how to support and encourage the development of those gifts to bring to your community.

Email your questions and comments.