Dreaming Big + Small

What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Do?

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. ON AUGUST 28, 1963

Martin Luther King Jr. Day arrives with hope and heartbreak for me.

It’s a day wrapped in lofty language—dreams, justice, community—and yet it lands in the middle of a ugh-ly reality that feels anything but dreamy.

We quote Dr. King while living inside an America that seems determined to prove how unfinished his work remains. We celebrate the dream while actively dismantling the conditions that might allow it to live.

Today, the American Dream feels less like a promise and more like a punchline. And I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling very punchy these days.

We are living under one of the most openly hateful administrations in modern history, in an era fueled by cruelty masquerading as policy, division dressed up as patriotism, and fear sold as strength. The Chump Administration thrives on erasure: of truth, of empathy, of community.

And still, it’s in our DNA to dream. Dreams big and small alike.

Dr. King dreamed big. Monumentally big. Radically big. His dream was never modest or convenient. It demanded sacrifice, discomfort, and courage. It challenged systems, not just attitudes. It called out injustice, not just incivility.

Dr. King’s vision for an updated American Dream ultimately cost him his life.

But here’s the part we often skip over on days like today: Dr. King also understood the power of small dreams. Small acts. Daily commitments. The quiet, unglamorous work of showing up again and again in a world that resists change with everything it has.

That’s where many of us are living now. In the tension between dreams big and small.

The big dreams feel so far away for so many. Economic security. Equal justice. Bodily autonomy. Safety. Truth. Democracy that actually works for everyone. For many, those dreams feel stalled, reversed, or flat-out stolen. The ladder has been pulled up. The rules rewritten. The goalposts moved…yet again.

So we dream smaller.

We dream of getting through the day without doomscrolling ourselves into a state of despair. We dream of paying our bills, keeping the lights on, and bringing home the bacon. We dream of moments of happiness and joy that haven’t yet been politicized or legislated away. We dream of rest. Of peace. Of quiet.

And there is no shame in those dreams.

Dreaming small is not giving up. It’s surviving. It’s choosing to stay human in a system that profits from our exhaustion and our numbness. It’s choosing to care when caring feels like a liability.

On this MLK Day, I’m thinking about how dreaming—big and small—is an active act of rebellion and resistance:

• Of refusing to believe the lie that cruelty is inevitable.

• Of choosing to believe tomorrow can still be better than today.

• Of loving openly and simply in a time that rewards hate and selfishness.

Some days, my dream is justice. Some days, my dream is just getting out of bed.

Both count. Both matter.

The American Dream, as it was sold to us, may be failing, cracking under the weight of inequality, corruption, and intentional neglect. But dreaming itself? That’s still ours. And no administration, no policy, no hateful rhetoric can take that away.

Today, I will honor Dr. King not by pretending we’ve arrived, but by:

• Acknowledging that we haven’t yet made his dream a reality.

• Holding space for both my grief and my anger.

• Dreaming what I can, when I can.

Dreaming big when possible. Dreaming small when necessary. But always dreaming forward. With my arms and heart and mind wide open.

Keep calm and keep dreaming!
Clint 🌈✌️

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FYC = FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

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BORN THIS WAY ON THIS DAY

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• 01-19 = Janis Joplin (1943-1970) = American singer-songwriter 🌈

• 01-19 = Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) = American writer 🌈

• 01-19 = Pete Buttigieg (1982- ) = American politician 🌈

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MAN CRUSH(ES) OF THE DAY

PETE BUTTIGIEG

“The world is changing, but it is not changing on its own.”
Pete Buttigieg