Charley was so excited about the story framing exercise. He decided to challenge the interns with visioning. “Any change has to come with a vision,” he began. “I’m sure that each of you know of the vision that Martin Luther King, Jr. presented in his I Have A Dream Speech. There are a couple of things you may not know about that speech.”
“As he was giving the speech, Mahalia Jackson the great gospel singer yelled to him to ‘tell them about the dream’. The I have a dream sequence in the speech was not in the original text. It was spontaneous, but that’s the vision that still remains with us.”
“What I want you to do is describe your dream for the change you want to make. To do that you need to put it in pictures that everyone can relate to.”
“You might also recognize that the vision was highlighted by the repetitive use of the phrase I have a dream. The repetitive use of a phrase at the beginning of sentences is called anaphora and that repetitive use anchors the vision in the minds of others. I want you to develop your own phrase. That may seem hard to do, but I think you will be surprised by how easy those phrases will come to you.”
“Take the rest of the day to craft your vision. Tomorrow I would like to have each of you deliver that vision to us. You may note the rhetorical gifts of MLK, but that’s not important at this time.”
As Charley observed the interns at work, he found it fascinating that they chose to listen to the I Have a Dream Speech. It seemed to inspire them.
When the interns presented their visions, Charley was again impressed by their work. Every intern had done a great job, but it was Austin’s vision that stood out.
Can you imagine that one day that those who have lived a full life will have an adopted family to visit them every day and add joy to their final days?
Can you imagine that those who have fought for our country will have a community family of young people to share their stories to?
Can you imagine that those dealing with memory loss will have regular visitors to bring forth their earliest memories?
Can you imagine that those who are bed bound having friends to take them on strolls?
Can you imagine that the days of loneliness for all of our seniors are a thing of the past as each of us becomes companions in their final days?
It’s not hard to imagine this future if you’ll share a vision of defeating loneliness.
The interns and Charley were stunned by Austin’s vision. He had given them a vision that all of them felt they could fulfill.
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“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” – Helen Keller