Manifesting Advocacy Dreams: Telling Dreams to Encourage Action

“Manifesting Advocacy Dreams: Telling Dreams to Encourage Action” on a navy, blue, and purple gradient half-circle with a pink background and white sparkles overlay at the top half of the image.

I spend a good chunk of my time daydreaming. It starts with playing a song on repeat which always leads me to get lost in my thoughts and ideas. Many of my daydreams end up being dreams of a world I would love to see. Some, I potentially see myself working on.

I think manifesting can be useful! In efforts of working in advocacy, maybe sharing my advocacy dreams would be fun (and maybe inspire you too!).

I engage in a space that has conversations surrounding the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which is a good place to start when exploring challenges to solve. While it is definitely not the only framework to consider when imagining a world, it is universal and structured to provide a broader understanding. Inspiration for change for me are from the conversations I had with people while discussing the SDG (and then daydreaming to see how it can be played out).

I would like to see a world in which we are more focused on meaningful connection to community and the people around us. This requires living conditions where people are comfortable, paid well, and opportunities to grow and connect in different ways (essentially, less stressed out about the world). People should be able to participate in activities of their choosing without the concerns of barriers and access because considerations of accommodations and cultural differences are embedded into the beginning of the process. The decision-making process takes into communities voices’ and perspectives to strengthen policies and take effective action plans to a whole new level with collaboration.

There are more aspects of a world that I can consider in this vision like environmental sustainability (climate anxiety is still prevalent in my life). However, I have met so many people who are WAY more passionate about it than me and I know we are in good hands with these amazing people doing the work. My focus tends to be increasing participation for education, work, and life to feel connected to community and society.

Keeping that in mind, my advocacy dreams are split up into two sections, dreams I would love to contribute to, and dreams that I would love to see happen.

Navy background with the hand lettering of “dreams.” There is a white outline to resemble clouds with a sparked overlay the navy outside of the cloud drawing.

Dreams I would love to contribute to

• Making events/activities more accessible through increasing knowledge on what is needed and can be done, and providing skills to increase confidence in troubleshooting issues

• Increasing awareness on accessibility barriers through my lovely experience as a deaf and disabled person

• Showcase advocacy options that may not be traditional viewed as advocacy/activism from a media perspective

• Contribute to the idea of productivity that incorporate leisure to increase decent work with different options and increased benefits and supports.

Dreams that I would love to see happen (and help out!)

• Increase investment and course of action for climate emergency (especially for people with disabilities)

• Commitment to providing space for truth from communities and increasing reconciliation between communities and governments.

• People’s basic income meets living wage (and assistance for people with disabilities considers both living and medical expenses with freedom to be independent).

I know there are probably more advocacy dreams that I would love to do or see. That list will take ages to write and I will have to update  it every day.  However, this is a great starting point to write down my dreams to achieve.

What are your advocacy dreams? I invite you to daydream about a world you would like to live in and note down dreams that you may be able to work and contribute to.

Amanda