Life is but a dream, not just in nursery rhymes but in how we live each day. When we view life as a waking dream, full of symbols and synchronicities, we see deeper meaning in everyday encounters. Choosing love over fear transforms the dream into a source of healing and connection. Each moment invites us to awaken, row gently, and live our dream consciously.

In This Article

• How does life mirror a dream?
• What role does synchronicity play in daily life?
• How can we see ourselves in others?
• Why is choosing love over fear essential?
• How do we row gently through the dream of life?

Life Is But a Dream

Early one morning, around 4:00 a.m., I woke from a vivid, disturbing dream. Still half-asleep, I reached for my phone to record it for my dream journal.

Once I had finished speaking into the recorder, another situation came to mind. It wasn’t part of the dream, or even a dream at all, but it felt like it could have been a dream as well. In "real life", I had recently found myself following someone who was showing me the way to reach a certain place which had not gone as smoothly as I would have liked. Simple enough, yet as I reflected on it, I thought: what if I treated this moment as though it had been a dream? What would it reveal?

That’s when my inner voice spoke up: "all of life is a dream". Instantly, the words of the childhood rhyme drifted back into my mind: “Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.”

How extraordinary that such a profound truth is embedded in a simple nursery rhyme taught to children. At its core, it reminds us that life, like a dream, is fleeting, symbolic, and shaped by how we experience it.

Synchronicity in the Dream

As I dictated those words into my phone, something amusing and meaningful happened. Instead of writing “merrily,” in the fourth instance, my phone transcribed “Mary”—the English version of my name, Marie.

To me, this wasn’t just a slip of technology; it felt like a cosmic wink, a reminder that the dream of life is always speaking to us if we are willing to pay attention. Little synchronicities like these are part of the dream fabric—subtle nudges that tell us we are connected to something greater and that we need to pay attention.

Life as a Living Dream

If life is indeed a dream, then perhaps we can treat our daily experiences the same way we analyze our nighttime visions. In dream work, we ask: What do the characters represent? What is the hidden symbolism? What message is being offered?

The same questions can be applied to waking life. A missed bus, a heated conversation, an unexpected encounter at the grocery store—all can be viewed as symbols, reflections, or messages. When we pause and ask, “If this were a dream, what would it mean?” we open ourselves to a deeper guidance that life is constantly offering.

Seeing Ourselves in Others

Over the past year, I’ve been practicing the following approach more consciously—seeing reflections of myself in those around me. Sometimes the mirror is clearest up close, one-on-one relationships: a new friend, a landlord, a health practitioner, or even someone I speak with on the phone.

At other times, it shows up in small interactions with strangers, such as clerks or cashiers. What I’ve noticed is that every person seems to mirror some part of me—my light and my shadow, my strengths and my weaknesses. Just like dream characters, they hold up a mirror to the qualities I need to recognize, honor, or accept and transform within myself.

This isn’t always easy. It takes honesty to admit that the impatience I see in another might reflect my own, or that someone’s generosity might be pointing me toward a quality I can cultivate more deeply. Yet when we embrace life as a dream, these encounters become invitations to grow, heal, and expand.

Choosing Love Over Fear

Dreams can be delightful or frightening, peaceful or chaotic. The same is true for life. Beneath it all lies a choice: to live from fear, or to choose differently. Fear casts shadows on the dream—it shows up as regret, suspicion, judgment, or separation. It creates the feeling of a nightmare, where we stumble through confusion and unease.

Love, on the other hand, transforms the dream into something flowing and luminous. Love connects, heals, forgives, and uplifts. It allows us to see others not as enemies or obstacles, but as fellow dreamers traveling the stream beside us.

Every day, in every interaction, we are given the choice: respond with fear, or respond with love. Choosing love doesn’t mean ignoring pain or pretending everything is perfect.

It means meeting the moment with compassion, openness, and the willingness to connect rather than withdraw. When we live this way, life becomes a living expression of love—a dream worth cherishing.

Listening to the Dream

Those small slips, coincidences, and synchronicities—the “Mary/Marie” as the fourth “merrily,” the chance encounters, the repeated patterns—are not accidents. They are the dream speaking back to us.

When we begin to notice them, life feels less random and more like a conversation between our inner self and the world around us. The dream of life is alive, interactive, and full of meaning—if only we slow down enough to listen. Stop, Look, Listen.

Rowing Our Boat

If life is but a dream, then each of us is rowing our boat, shaping the journey with our choices, our perceptions, and our responses. The rhyme reminds us to row gently, to move with care, and above all, to move merrily.

And merrily means much more than joyfully. It includes all the energies that let us flow with life in harmony —so merrily, yes, but also lovingly, compassionately, caringly, patiently, and with trust in yourself, in life itself, and in the future.

The dream of life is not something to endure in fear or regret. It is something to embrace with trust, love, and an open heart. The waking dream is something that can be adjusted, molded, and transformed to create a life that holds joy, love, and inner peace.

So, as you move through your day, ask yourself: if this were a dream, what would it be telling me? And then you recognize that you have the choice to live that dream with the attitude of your choice—moment by moment, interaction by interaction.

After all, life is but a dream, and we get to choose the energy of the current that carries us gently downstream--joyful, playful, accepting, loving, trusting, cooperative. As always, it's our choice... and, more importantly, it's our dream!

Music Interlude

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More Inspirational Card Decks 

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal empowerment, and inner well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of love. joy, and creativity.

Article Recap:
Life is but a dream, a waking dream full of meaning, synchronicity, and reflection. By choosing love over fear, noticing the subtle messages, and seeing ourselves in others, we transform our daily experience into one of healing, connection, and joy. Living consciously, we row our boats gently, shaping the dream of life into harmony.

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