Today’s Brilliance from Caleb

I’ve heard it said that some people are just dreamers, as if to dream is less than to do. That’s not how I see it.

From where I stand as a 14 year old, dreams are what give life a purpose, what brings us to another place, a greater place.

When a person has a dream of something better for him or herself or for human kind, they should be encouraged to follow their dream and be supported in their quest.

The dream has to come first and is most important. The dream is what inspires us to act.

I’ve learned that a lot of what we take for granted today began as the dream of one person and the work of a group of dedicated people. If not for Thomas Alva Edison, we would not have light. If not for so many who suffered and died seeking equality, we would not have many of the civil rights laws that were enacted after Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke out about his dream and inspired people to take action to effect change.

It’s my dream to change a life through my music. And if I’m able, I’d like to change many lives and make the world a better place. To be able to reach someone, to really give them something to hold onto or something to aspire to, feels amazing. One of my songs is an anti-suicide song. I can hardly explain how it feels when I read messages from people who say they’ve held onto that song when they had nothing else to see them through.

More challenging than that, but at the heart of my dream, is to not only change a life, but to change a mind.

If through my music, people could see that people are people at our core, we’re all alike or different in our own unique ways, but we should not to be hated for who we are, or who we love or the God that we pray to or the color of our skin, or the country that we’re from, or for how we look or who or family is, or if we’re differently abled, THAT would be my greatest accomplishment.

While my dreams may not be awe-inspiring for others, they carry great meaning for me. I hope to never know life without my dreams. I work each day to move closer to making my dreams a reality.