Before we begin, take a breath.
No—really—take a breath.
Let the world hush for a moment.
Let the tension in your shoulders fall.
Place your feet flat if you can. Touch the earth.
Or close your eyes and remember her.
Breathe in through your nose.
Hold.
Exhale through your mouth slowly.
Let it go.
Feel the weight of your body.
Feel the pulse of your breath.
Feel the presence of your ancestors at your back, steadying you.
Feel the land beneath you—whether forest, clay, ocean, or concrete—feel her holding you.
We begin here.
Because liberated dreaming doesn’t come from disconnection.
It comes from remembering. From being in our bodies. From being with the land.
It comes from being here—present, whole, and open.
This space is sacred.
This work is ancestral.
This dreaming is collective.
Let’s begin.
What We Mean When We Say ‘Anatomy’
When you hear the word anatomy, what do you see?
For many, it's flashbacks to school textbooks, skin peeled back to expose muscle and bone, the dissection of form. Clinical. Cold. Removed from spirit.
But at its root, anatomy comes from the Greek anatome—meaning to cut up, to dissect, to take apart for understanding.
And while colonial frameworks have used dissection to dominate and divide—To dissect not just bodies, but cultures, dreams, and traditions. To name and categorize. Stripping the sacred from the body, the earth, and the dream—this piece is an invitation to reclaim anatomy as a sacred tool.
But in this space—in this offering—we reclaim the word.
Not for violence, but for reverence.
Not for extraction, but for remembrance. Not for domination, but for liberation.
Not to divide, but to deepen understanding.
To gently open up the living, breathing system of a dream—not to control it, but to know it more intimately. to understand its sacred parts.
To map its bones, its breath, its skin, its rhythm—so we can tend to it fully.
Because liberated dreams have an anatomy.
They have structure. They have memory. They have breath and boundary and spirit.
And when we say, “We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” we have to pause and feel into that truth.
Because our ancestors weren’t all dreaming the same thing.
Some dreamed of escape. Some of justice. Some of simply staying alive.
But what I know deep in my marrow is this:
Every one of their dreams included us.
Us surviving. Us laughing. Us unburdened.
Us living full, whole, sacred lives.
That phrase—"our ancestors’ wildest dreams"—is not just about celebration.
It is about context.
About the wildness it took to imagine joy and liberation beyond the plantation, beyond the subjugation, beyond the gas chambers, beyond the colonized borders, beyond the forced migrations, beyond the generational silencing.
About the rebellion it took to envision futures beyond genocide, erasure, and chains.
And still… they dreamed.
To dream under the weight of that kind of violence is not naive—it is revolutionary.
Which means we have permission to dream even wilder.
To examine the bones of liberation and ask…
So what did your ancestors dream of for you?
What dreams were buried in your lineage?
And what do you now dream for the generations to come?
This is not just reflection—it’s responsibility.
Because every time we dare to rest, to heal, to love, to imagine something beyond survival—we are participating in that legacy.
We are (re)membering the body of the dream.
A dream that was never just for us, but through us.
✨ This offering continues beyond this point...
If this piece is nourishing your spirit, I lovingly invite you to become a paid subscriber and continue the journey with us. I'm celebrating my 46th rotation around the sun—and in honor of that, you can receive 46% off a full year of Liberation Education right now. 🎉
You can also gift a subscription to someone who’s ready to dream deeper, live fuller, and reclaim their own liberation.
And as always—if there are financial barriers, please email: scholarships@desireebstephens.com. No one is turned away from this sacred space. We are building this together.
Your dream matters. Your healing matters. Your wholeness is welcome here.