It is blustery and gray outside, but the branches that are swaying and blowing in the wind have tiny pale green leaves adorning them, which makes today all right. It's days like today that make the flowers bloom more bountifully and the grass grow just a longer...almost there.
After watching my favorite movie, Amelie, a sweet French film about an innocent girl who pursues her dream, I have been reflecting on dreams today. Those little dreams that everyone carries around inside of themselves, but almost never have the courage to tell anyone, or do anything about. On Thursday night, the Mexican gentleman in my painting class at the Park District confided to me in Spanish that ever since he was a little boy, it has been his dream to have a career as a painter on TV, like Bob Ross. This gentleman is now in his late 40's, has 5 children, and is just now, for the first time, in a class to learn to paint. He has never even held a paintbrush before, but still deep down, hopes to be the next Bob Ross (if you aren't acquainted with this fabulous man - or his incredible hair - click here).
[hahaha! Just kidding! For the real Bob Ross, click here.)
Dreams are funny like that. Some can wait for years until you do anything about them, and some begin without you even trying.
I just returned home from Mexico, where I spent 10 days helping to care for my mom and the rest of the family while she is recovering from major surgery. It is always a joy to be with them and get to know my younger sisters again, as they are changing and growing too fast for me to keep up with. One of the things that I love about children and youth is that they are full of dreams. And none of these dreams ever seem to hard, improbable, or unachievable. They are all well within the reach of that simple, carefree phrase, "when I grow up..."
My brother, at 20 years old, has just given up his lifetime, childhood dream of being a doctor. The college biology and chemistry classes were the hard reality that never in existed in his mind as a little boy. Med school and all of its tough demands and rigid lifestyle and college GPA expectations were an completely unknown factor back then. But now, they are what has stopped the dream, and re-routed it to something different. This isn't a bad thing. In fact, I dreamed that I was going to be a nurse saving Aids babies in Africa when I went into college. The actual facts are that I graduated with an Illinois Teachers certification to teach visual art K-12. Not to mention the reality that I was also married and expecting a baby in five months. Africa was definitely no longer in the dream. Instead, it re-routed itself to something different. But something just as beautiful, in it's own way.
Eric and I have a lot of dreams for our family. Some are far off and distant enough to even say that they will happen "when I grow up." Others are tangible enough to pursue right now. And some have already started, without us even realizing it.
Ten years from now, "when we grow up," our lives will most likely look completely different than anything we ever imagined they would. Dreams re-routed and re-shaped around a myriad of unexpected events, pleasant surprises, some hard lessons learned, and the routines of daily life as a family.
After all, if life was as predictable as we would all like it to be, then where would the fun be in that? So keep dreaming. But may your dreams be made of rubber. In other words, flexible. :)
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