“In my own little corner in my own little chair I can be whatever I want to be …”

So sings Julie Andrews in the 1957 television adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

This song is a testimony to the power of daydreaming or fantasizing. In our dreams awake or asleep we can be and do whoever and whatever we want to be.

Awake we can direct the dream with much better control and more easily. Cinderella is meek and obedient as she does the bidding of her stepmother and stepsisters, but in her little chair alone she fantasizes about an enchanted life.

Asleep the dream takes over. Sometimes it shows us a dazzling world of fantasy, but other times we’re swept up into a nightmare or we’re shown a funhouse mirror-version of aspects of ourselves we’d rather not face.

Either way, dreams help us break out of our habitual patterns of thinking and behaving so we can visit different corners of our psyches. We can try on different roles, and different emotional responses to situations; we might even experience what it’s like to swim underwater like a sea turtle, or fly through the air like a hawk.

Cinderella’s daydreaming paid off. She went from sweeping up ashes to dancing with the prince at the ball. What do you dream of doing or becoming? Do you believe your fantasies have the power to help put you on the path to transforming your reality? Wouldn’t it be fun to find out?

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To learn more about the transformational powers of dreaming click here.