I’ve been thinking quite a bit about dreams lately. I do this when I can’t sleep…
And it is in those wakeful wee and watchful hours that I ask myself questions such as this one:
“How many exquisite, glorious dreams sent to heal the world has Heaven mourned because the dreamer, weary and discouraged, relied only on her own strength and could do no more?” – Sarah Ban Breathnach from Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
And I remind myself of Wisdom like this:
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” – Proverbs 13:12
And I believe a statement like this:
“Dreams are necessary to life.” – Anais Nin
And I try my very best to summon a courage like this:
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. ” – Henry David Thoreau
But before long, my critic voice interrupts and says things like “get your head out of the clouds” and “you’re just a ‘daydream believer’ ” and (worst of all) “wake up.”
How many other dreamers sigh at this final insult, roll over and tumble back into sleep like I so often do? Could this instead be a helpful clue? Could it a key to reclaiming our Wonder?
Perhaps it is only in fully awakening that we can appreciate the treasure of our dreams. We have to secretly slip them out from under the pillow case and tuck them deep into our pockets as we tidy up the covers. We need to keep them close at hand throughout the day so that we can finger them over and over again lest we forget. We need to touch them with our heart-tips to remember that they are ours – and ours alone – to hold onto like an alarm clock whenever we may be tempted to fall back asleep.