I had a dream the other morning that rattled me. I hadn’t had a dream like this ever before. But afterwards, I felt a renewed sense of gratitude for the simple things, deep to my core. An overwhelming sense of relief, looking at each thing around my house with appreciation. Thank God that dream is not reality. Do you ever have that happen after nightmares? …This dream was like a frightening movie and slightly comical in retrospect. The zombie apocalypse had happened while I was shopping at Target. 

It was not a time to dilly dally while shopping. I was tense and knew what was at stake. But this Target was the last place to gather food and supplies. Who was infected and who wasn’t? Sometimes you could tell by the gray tint of their skin. 

I hustled down the aisle looking for something. I saw someone who must be what we would think of in pop culture as a zombie. The zombie limped along the pristine aisles, It’s right eye was swollen and oozing. 

I hustled to get my things. (Looking back after I woke I think I must have been pretty stressed while at Target the other day. We’ve all been there.) 

The dream changed and I was outside in the parking lot talking to some people who weren’t exhibiting any signs of zombiehood. But one of them said something and it became apparent this guy was indeed part of the “walking dead” and panic swelled up in my chest. 

I walked away towards a car as calmly as possible so as not to show them I knew. I felt betrayed that they had not disclosed they were zombies. 

I got into the car with some people who I apparently could trust, even though they were strangers… or new acquaintances? I’m not sure, you know how dreams are like that. But times were tough and havoc and looting had been taking place. So things were getting out of control around us. 

A man approached our car and raised his hand which held a gun. He began shooting at us. I ducked down in the back seat, and the man driving peeled out as fast as he could, but this guy with the gun was taking steady aim, repeatedly shooting at us.

The dream shifted again, and perhaps time had slid by, so this could have been months later. But I was still in a parking lot, and again, I was talking to people who turned out to be zombies. I felt the fear and devastation in my body and I knew I had to get out or I would become one of them. 

If I didn’t get out of this apocalyptic world mess, and out of this Target parking lot I would surely perish, alongside most of humanity at that time. What was I going to do? The fence around us in the parking lot was tall and looming. Cars beyond it and buildings as well, were charred to a crisp from who knows what. Food was scarce, crime was everywhere, and few people remained. Who to trust? How to break free when most of the world was like this? The people, who were zombies, were standing so close to me, casually talking as though nothing were wrong. 

I didn’t know what to do.  But somehow, I started to rise up, my feet rose from the ground and I steadily flew into the air. The zombies down below me did not take notice and became dots on the ground. The gray fenced-in parking lot became a birds eye blur as I soared through the air. 

I got away! How did I do that? How was I flying right now? Humans can’t fly, this is crazy. Is this a new adaptation I acquired in response to the stress of the apocalypse? The air whooshed through my hair and face while I flew through the air. The scenery changed to agricultural squares. The lighting in my dream changed from dark, subdued grays, to golden, fresh colors. 

I was flying and had gotten away from the immediate danger. I should be elated. But all I could do was cry. The tears streamed down my face as I flew through the air. Where would I go? No one I know was left. Could I get to my mom? No, she, like everyone I knew, was gone. I cried. Well, almost everyone.

I woke up right when there was some hope. I could fly across the country where my boyfriend had been when the apocalypse broke out. We hadn’t been able to get to each other due to grounded flights. But now I was somehow able to fly. So I could fly to him. There was hope. And somehow I knew he had made it out of the city and set up a campsite in the woods, safe from the upheaval of the world collapse in civilization. 

So I made my way towards him. How would I find him though? At this point, I was somewhat awake and aware of how jarring the dream was. So I was determined to allow my creative brain to slip into a state of ideas that would be better than the world collapse I had just experienced, to shake off the feeling of despair I felt upon waking. 

So in my half asleep state, I imagined that my boyfriend was sustainable, hunting and fishing for food in a beautiful mountainside. I imagined others had survived too and would soon meet us.I flew and found him and we were elated to see each other.

Time passed, and I was able to fly into cities to acquire necessary materials for survival and bring them back. Each of us in our new tiny society brought skills to the table to build houses and thrive with our surroundings. We flourished with a garden and sustainable living, starting from scratch and living in balance with the earth and mountain around us. 

I fully awoke and looked around my room relieved it had all been a dream. 

But in a way, I feel like this type of collapse is what is at stake these days with the state of the world. Imagine if we could all wake up and have the solutions to solve our world crises. And actually enact these solutions and live in harmony with each other and the planet.  

Humans are rather advanced. We can do it. A better world is possible. 

For the time being, I am so grateful to wake up in a comfortable bed, and not to the sounds of bombs dropping, like Palestinians and Israelees and Ukrainians and Sudanese and others around the world are forced to experience. 

The lack of food and resources and the flood of migrants that will come when the water is rising at the shores from human caused climate change will surely cause chaos and more suffering. 

I am so grateful for the simple things: To sip my tea in the morning, to stretch out on my yoga mat. To open my fridge to food and water. To know that I can pick up my phone and call my mom. That I can go to work, to a job I don’t mind and come home and snuggle on the couch with my boyfriend.

Life is beautiful. But it is beautiful because I am lucky. We should all have access to these things. A better world is possible, for all of us. If we can dream it, we can make it. But is there time? And how do we build it? 

People around the globe are looking for solutions. They are imagining a better world and creating it, despite the pessimists laughing at them and holding them back. 

People are working to advance our world. Take for example, the engineers who pioneered a new type of pavement which absorbs rainwater so that it soaks into the earth. Or the creators of surfaces which generate electricity from the people walking or running on them. Or the volunteers cleaning up oceans, and the architects seeking solutions to grow greenery on skyscrapers. The tireless activists campaigning for better political solutions, climate and social  justice. And the average person just reading the news and being aware. Calling  our representatives and voting with our knowledge. 

It’s going to take a lot, but we can do it. We can, metaphorically, learn to fly out of this situation and dream up solutions that not only work, but solutions we fall in love with and enjoy. 

Harmony is possible. But only if we believe it and work towards it.