Waiting for a Vision

I have had reason to ponder Vision a great deal lately and I’ve talked with a number of people finding many different perspectives on Vision. I’d like to share some of my perspectives in hopes it might help someone better understand and more fully live the Vision they already have but might not quite see.

What I’ve found is that many people are waiting for their Vision. They think they don’t understand their Vision because they haven’t been given something to “do”. I’ve been told that I’m fortunate because I have a powerful Vision. What they are referring to, however, is not really my Vision but its current manifestation. It is this difference in thinking that can prevent people from living their Vision every day, thinking, until I know what to do, I can’t live my Vision. To me, personal Vision isn’t about what we “do” it’s about using the gifts we’ve been given, essentially who we are. Malcolm in the Vision Quest program talks of Personal Vision and Grand Vision. He says that the early quests provide us with insights into ourselves and it is through these quests, I believe, that we’re shown our true gifts – even if it’s something outside our experience or consideration. We may not currently think of ourselves as a teacher or a healer or protector but through the Quest we are shown not only the seeds of these gifts in ourselves, but a larger potential for these gifts.

These gifts are our Personal Vision and they are things we can manifest every day at whatever point we are in our journey. Perhaps we’ve been given a vision of being a teacher. It doesn’t mean we go out and quit our job and begin teaching whatever we’re called to teach; it means we begin to explore and implement teaching within our life. Perhaps its just through conversations, interjecting another perspective or idea that may help the person look at things differently. It may mean writing what we’ve learned in an article. It may mean going to school or classes for training. It definitely means practicing diligently the skills that we are called to teach. In other words, we explore all aspects of teaching, our relationship to it and develop our skills with it and whatever it is we are called to teach. Through all of these actions, learning, and contemplations we are living our Vision very powerfully – it is the focus of our life. When the time in right, when we’ve truly committed to our Vision and when our skills are ready, perhaps we’ll be given opportunity to teach more formally. Perhaps we see how our vision of teaching combines with our vision of helping children and decide to become a school teacher. Getting that teaching job, however is not our Vision, it is the current manifestation of it. Perhaps later we see how our vision as teacher fits with our vision as healer and it changes what we teach or how we teach. Let’s say we quit or retire from our job as teacher, does that mean our Vision is over? No, our Vision of being a teacher continues, it will just manifest in a different way. And for me this is where the Grand Vision becomes important. Our Personal Vision has us teaching, the Grand Vision provides direction of how we can most powerfully manifest it.

Tom Brown, Jr. has said there is only one Vision. This is The Vision of the Creator, what Malcolm teaches as the Grand Vision. As they’ve taught, the Grand Vision is not something we see and understand immediately. It may take years of spiritual work and numerous quests before we begin to even sense the scope and power of The Vision. But does our lack of understanding prevent us from living our Personal Vision? I think we can trust that the Great Mystery holds a powerful, positive Vision for humanity and the Earth. We don’t need to know it’s full scope to know that if we use our gifts to do something positive in the world, we are serving The Vision and living our Visions.

As we are ready we are given more insight and understanding of The Vision. This may open other, more impactful ways to manifest our gifts or we may then understand the powerful impact of the current manifestation of our Vision and perhaps how to do it better. What the Grand Vision really provides through its awe-inspiring power and beauty is inspiration and need-driven passion. Even a glimpse of it adds fuel to our hearts and desire to serve the Creator and contribute in our own way through our Personal Vision.

One final idea to ponder; does The Vision only have one final manifestation or is it a living journey like our Personal Visions? Does this Grand Vision just continue to grow and change taking humanity to unfathomed heights? I pray this is a journey humanity chooses to take.