Can sacrificed dreams be revived? Or are they lost forever? Do you harbor at least one dream that you can't let go of? That has yet to become a reality?
I picture dreams as living things, needing fed, nurtured, sunshine and freedom of expression. I've seen folks give up their dreams to pursue harsh jobs, all in the name of providing for the family. Sisyphusian jobs that served their purpose but exacted a cost, draining color from hair and skin and leaving them ravaged seniors, bitter, dry and humorless. Their dreams were barely entertained much less realized.
I've witnessed some who held hands with their dreams, and found ways to nurture and sustain them. And still others who danced with their dreams and when the financial responsibility of parenthood no longer needed them, their dreams bloomed into a second career. The second part of their lives, just as fulfilling as the first.
It reminds me a little of that Japanese man who watered the seed everyday for years with no return on his investment. Then one day, the seed sprouts ten feet.
Considering everything begins with dreams, I find it surprising that we don't embrace them more widely, more often. I had people in my life who encouraged mine. I can't thank them enough. Dreamers inspire the rest of us. Dreamers beget dreamers. But dreamers need encouragers.
I think of dreams as an endangered species with so many hunters, so many shooters, thieves and killers of a good idea. The young dreamers of today are the movers and shakers of tomorrow. How are you involved with that movement? How do you encourage dreams? Are you living your dreams?
2 comments:
I've had some of my dreams crushed and others wither away to a mere memory after I had nurtured them until I was all nurtured out. The few that remain are quite frail at this point, but of those, there are a couple that I will bring to fruition or have wretched from my cold, dead fingers.
I feel a bit like that with art. I nurtured them to death. Painting, pottery, mosaics to the core of my creativity: writing all along. And, like riding a wave, when they crashed on the shore and went back out to sea, I was ready to move on. I have to think up a few more now, not a bad place to be.
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