Chapter 24 | “The New Language of Love”

 

The One Who Woke Within the Dream

I dreamed that I woke up.

Not the kind of waking where you open your eyes —
but a light of awareness igniting inside the dream,
illuminating the entire space.

The dream kept unfolding,
but I knew I was dreaming.

In that instant of knowing,
there was no fear —
only a deep, stunning clarity.

I saw the people in the dream like actors on a stage,
their masks gently falling away,
revealing eyes that were real.
They looked at me not as characters,
but as old friends saying,
“You remember now.”

And I began to wonder —
isn’t that what we do in waking life?

We play the good child, the reliable worker,
the wise adult, even the awakened one —
but how often do we ask:

“Who is the one playing all of this?”

Within the dream,
I began to thank each scene:
the painful ones, the joyful ones,
the ones that lost me,
and the ones that brought me home.

Because I saw it clearly —
they were all messages I had written to myself.
All invitations…
to wake up within the dream.

I did not leave the dream.
But I began to choose.

I could choose to no longer be swept by the storyline,
but respond with gentle awareness.

I could choose to no longer be confined to a role,
but remember who I truly am.

I know this is only the first step
of waking inside the dream —
but that one step
changes everything.

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