Dream Big. Make Clear Requests.
Dreams and Requests
Half-day Retreat, August 2nd
Meditation and Concentration, by Shunryu Suzuki
What I’m Listening To: Bedouine
From Dreams To Making Requests
Entrepreneurs are dreamers. Every business begins with a vision — and the greatest ones begin with a dream audacious enough to seem almost unreasonable.
Orville and Wilbur Wright dreamed of humans moving through the sky like birds. Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google on the dream of organizing all the world’s information. Herbert Boyer and Robert Swanson launched Genentech with the dream of using genetically engineered bacteria to produce medicines that could save lives. None of these dreams were “realistic” at the time. That was precisely their power.
Zen students are dreamers too, though in a different register. They take on vows like saving all beings and ending all delusions — intentions so vast they are beyond the conventional sense of accomplishment. And yet the vow itself changes the person who holds it. The dream orients the life.
In times of uncertainty and difficulty — and these are certainly that — thinking small is its own kind of risk. A compelling vision doesn’t just point toward the future; it gives people a reason to show up fully in the present.
Requests
A dream held only internally remains inspiration. It becomes something more when it enters the space between people.
This is where requests come in. A clear, well-made request is how a dream moves from your inner dialogue into alignment with the people you work and live with. It’s one of the most underrated leadership skills — and one of the most revealing. How you make requests reflects what you actually believe about the people around you.
Are you asking, or directing? Inviting, or demanding? Do your requests create room for a genuine connection — or do they carry an implicit pressure that forecloses real response?
The quality of a request depends enormously on context: the level of trust in the relationship, the emotional tone of the moment, whether the other person feels seen as a collaborator or deployed as a resource. A request made with care and clarity can deepen trust and build alignment. The same words, delivered without that care, can quietly erode both.
The dream points the direction. The request is how you bring others with you.
Practices
1. Clarify your dream. Take ten minutes to write — without editing — about a vision you hold for your work, your team, or your life. Don’t begin with what’s realistic. Begin with what matters. What outcome would feel genuinely meaningful, not just measurably successful?
2. Audit your requests. Over the next week, notice the requests you make — in meetings, in emails, in conversation. For each one, ask: Is this a genuine request, or a disguised instruction? Am I leaving real room for the other person to respond honestly?
Half-day Retreat, In-person (Mill Valley) and Online, Sunday August 2nd, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
In our world of busyness, of more/faster/better, this half-day retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew. Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, a talk, and some discussion. Anyone looking to begin or deepen a meditation and mindfulness practice is invited to attend….If you continue this practice, eventually you will experience the true existence which comes from emptiness.
A Favorite Quote, Meditation and Concentration, from Shunryu Suzuki
“In meditation practice, we say your mind should be concentrated on your breathing. but the way to keep your mind on your breathing is to forget all about yourself and just sit and feel your breathing. If you are concentrated on your breathing, you will forget about yourself, and if you forget about yourself, you will be concentrated on your breathing.”
What I’m Listening To: Bedouine
Her name is Azniv Korkejian, and records under the name Bedouine. Born in Syria and living in Saudi Arabia. Musician Norah Jones describes her work by saying “It’s just so nice to hear a voice that isn’t trying to prove anything and is at ease with itself.”
Warmest regards,
Marc