Learning from Orville and Wilbur
Think you may have cornered the market on Big Dreams?
Consider two of the Biggest Dreamers in history…
The Wright Brothers are two of my favorite historical characters. And because I live in North Carolina…they are even more intriguing to me. I have many times walked that strip of land on Kitty Hawk where Orville and Wilbur successfully flew in their flying machine on December 17, 1903.
One of those times, I was broken-hearted and totally lost after a relationship loss that took away almost everything I had. As I walked over the sandy grass in that space between the monument stones, I began to get a glimpse of what it would mean to have a dream and create something new. I began to understand that we are not called to aspire to re-invent or re-create ourselves after change or loss.
Instead…we are gifted by the Creator to be able to create our lives. To invent ourselves. To invent our reality.
There may be an “-re”- in the middle of create…and it does not mean we are trying to redo what has already been done…or undone.
In fact, we are the only creatures on the planet that have that skill. We can create something amazing from our imagination, desire, and will. We do that by creating Big Dreams. Just like Orville and Wilbur did.
How many people rolled their eyes when these two bicycle mechanics from Ohio told people they would soon be able to fly like the birds? They had a Big Dream. The two brothers had to move over many obstacles between the time they dreamed that Big Dream and the day they flew at Kitty Hawk.
The Wright Brothers created the reality that we now take advantage of…and may take for granted…every time we step onto an airplane. These two unlikely Dreamers changed the world and the way people move about in it.
I learn so much from their story. I will offer you three of those take-aways.
- All reality begins with a deep desire and a Big Dream that is outside our immediate grasp. That reality may well draw criticism and disbelief from the people around us.
- All Big Dreams come to life through our engagement with them. Orville and Wilbur created the parts of their ultimately-successful flying machine by consciously working through all the issues and questions that came up in their work.
- Making reality from a Big Dream requires conscious, constant, inner work to stay in the process. The Wright brothers moved through a myriad of challenges and roadblocks on their way to a successful flight.
What I take away from the Wright Brothers’ story and hundreds of other historical examples of ordinary people creating world-changing reality is …
We all have the gift of creation already in us. We do not have to search for it. We simply have to uncover all the junk and stories we have stacked on top of it all these years to allow its magic and truth to shine through.
One of the best examples of a creator in history who absolutely understood the honor of the gift within him was Michelangelo.
I will write more about his story at another time…