Do you read Susan Branch's blog? Her post yesterday was The Care and Feeding of Dreams. I love Susan's blog. She's happy, whimsical, encouraging, and always beautiful. I know her life must be like other lives, but her depiction of her home, her happiness in Martha's Vineyard is pure, unmitigated beauty.
Several things about the post struck me. She asks us how do we keep our dreams alive, and I found myself asking, "What are my dreams? Do I have dreams anymore?"
Is a nearly-50-year-old woman supposed to still have dreams?
Susan recommends writing your dreams down -- not the dreams you have at night, haha! The things you long and hope for and want to happen in life. She says to make things you can give away, to keep some fun, some joy ahead of you on your calendar. Have breakfast in bed, and not rarely. Take a walk outside.
To have dreams is to believe in yourself, I think. To believe that the things your heart longs for, can happen, will happen. Is it foolish? Or is it necessary, even essential, for a healthy mind?
Perhaps I'm not so different from other women who've been too busy, had children, moved a dozen times and expended themselves on surviving and occasionally just enjoying today. Just today. But we forgot about our dreams. Is it wrong for Christians to dream? Sandra over at Thistle Cove Farm reminds us of this: "Where there is no vision, the people perish" -- Proverbs 29:18. We're supposed to have vision. I've been so enraptured lately of my hope of heaven, of my eagerness for the New Earth (which is all good, you know) that I've stopped thinking about dreams for this world. Are they a waste of time? A worldliness?
One last quote from Susan's blog caught my eye and has niggled at my brain ever since. "All my life I've been circling and circling the tower of the Lord, and I still don't know if I'm a poet, a storm, or a song." (I have no idea who first said that quote.)
Yes, I have spent a lifetime around (and sometimes in) the tower of the Lord. That doesn't mean that I don't still have some confusion, some wonder and wandering. Looking at the tower but still uncertain of what I am. To dream is to believe in myself. I'd like to learn to dream again. Enjoy Susan's post.
5 comments:
Ths fits my thoughts exactly tonight! Joy and fun. Vision. Daring to dream. What stops us. Oh to roll up at your front door demanding tea and talk!
If you're breathing, you're supposed to be dreaming -LOL-. We all have different dreams for our lives although our dreams for heaven are, probably, quite similar. As to having breakfast in bed...the dogs would LOVE that; me, not so much.
Dream on, Girlfriend, and
dream LARGE!
You both are darlings!! Thank you. Sandra, you might have to BAR THE DOGS in order to have bacon - haha! And oh, Mags -- I wish! Boy, do I wish! I think we could make tea and talk for many days :)
It's strange, but I was just thinking about this sort of thing today....what are my dreams or personal goals, no matter how small they may be? Thank you for pointing out that even a 50 year old granny should/could have dreams.
XX Jody
Jody, I do think these types of thoughts rumble around in our minds in the winter, because it's a pensive, contemplative time. And at the opening of a new year, we are reminded of looking forward. It's nice to know that others are thinking the same things too!
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