Every age, after all, must have its own aisling and dream of a better, kinder, happier, shared world. — Michael D. Higgins

Every age, after all, must have its own aisling and dream of a better, kinder, happier, shared world.

Author: Michael D. Higgins

Insight: We all recognize that pull toward imagining something better. It's there when you scroll through social media and see someone's vision for a more just community, or when you catch yourself daydreaming about what your own life could look like with better choices. The thing is, that impulse isn't frivolous—it's actually essential. Every generation inherits both real problems and the responsibility to reimagine solutions in their own language, with their own tools, for their own moment. What makes this observation quietly radical is the word "must." Not "should" or "could," but must. Without that reaching toward something kinder, we get stuck defending what already exists. The aisling—an Irish vision or dream—represents more than wishful thinking. It's active imagination, the kind that eventually shapes policy, art, relationships, and how we treat each other. The specific dream changes; today's vision of shared happiness looks different from yesterday's. But the need to dream differently, to refuse to accept things as permanently fixed, is constant. The harder part, of course, is holding both things at once: believing change is genuinely possible while also respecting how slowly it actually arrives. But maybe that's exactly why every age needs its own dream. Without it, we stop trying altogether.