In A Word - Dream
Welcome to In a Word, a newsletter that cultivates thoughtfulness, one word at a time. If a friend forwarded you this email, click here to subscribe.
Hey there!
I hope your week is the stuff dreams are made of…or at least not nightmares. I’m so glad you’re here with me for another issue, and I have some exciting news!
The In A Word Podcast is live!
I’ve decided to commit to the audio companion to this newsletter for awhile, so I let Apple make an honest woman out of me and submitted my show to Apple Podcasts. You can find it here, or search “In A Word” in your podcast app of choice. You can also add it manually by copying and pasting this link into your podcast app: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1820.rss
Subscribe in your app of choice so you’ll get it automatically!
Podcast episodes will release on the same day of each issue, so you can expect them in your feed twice a month! (I won’t be sending an email with the podcast episode, so be sure to subscribe.)
Also, I’m sending out my roundup of Trader Joe’s finds and Things I’ve Liked, Alliterated next week, so that’s the extra email you’ll see pop in from me. (Check out my highlights on Instagram if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) No audio version for those, as much as I’m sure you’re dying for a narrated Trader Joe’s shopping trip.
In this issue, we’re exploring the word “dream.” The meaning of our dreams at night, the American dream, what our big dreams say about what we really want—there are so many fascinating directions to take this theme. Let’s dive in!
In this issue, you’ll find a poem about livin’ the dream, followed by a dream collection, and a closing benediction.
I absolutely loved this novel about a mysterious “sleeping sickness” that takes over a small college town.
Why Do You Keep Dreaming You Forgot Your Pants? It’s Science. This brief look at dream research, excerpted from a book about dreams, is fascinating.
We Need a New Kind of HGTV - I’ve wondered how shows like Fixer Upper influence our ideas about “dream homes.” This article posits some interesting ideas for shows that reflect more true-to-life experiences.
“The network’s standard house-buying narrative involves a mythical couple with coveted mystery jobs who can sit down and buy a house like it’s no big deal. Nobody I know can afford to buy a house right now or in the near future. (Hi, student loans!)”
I Got My Dream Job and Had My Baby the Same Week
“America stands out among industrialized nations for its lack of support for working parents.”
The Economist Who Would Fix the American Dream
“We must believe in the dream and we must accept that it is false—then, perhaps, we will be capable of building a land where it will yet be true.”
Don’t Think Twice is one of my favorite recent movies. It’s about chasing a dream, and the particular pain of watching other people grasp hold of the thing you’re chasing. This movie is so tenderly funny and has so much heart I almost can’t stand it. (Stream on Netflix.)
A few last links worth a click:
Sweet Dreams print (Perfect for a baby’s room!)
3 Often Forgotten Parts from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
May we wake up to dreams once obscured by fear, rub the sleep from our eyes, and put on possibility like a new pair of glasses. May our dreams cast a wide net that extends far beyond us, wide enough to outgrow and outlive us.
As always, I’d also love to hear your thoughts on anything this issue calls to mind for you. Simply respond to this email to let me know.
Gratefully, Jacey
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