Dreams

I was talking with a close friend a few days ago about the volatile nature of dreams. I'm not talking about sleeping dreams, but the waking ones. We all have them; day job as an accountant, but really wishing the etsy account would take off and lead to self-employment. Or the stay at home mom who really wants to get back in the classroom. Or the intro to painting class you've known about for months. There's a million examples.

But somehow by saying our dreams out loud, they seem so impossible, or worse yet, impractical. It seems to be the nature of dreams, that they do not fit in a cookie cutter world that says college, career, marriage, house, kids, retirement. In that order. In the expected timeframe. Or else.

Or else what, though?!

We are so concerned about our safety. Going into unchartered territory can be lonesome. There's no roadmap that tells you when you're too far from the conventional. And what would people think?

When I was considering leaving teaching and education all together, one of my pre-occupations was what I would tell people. What will be my story? I would think. I imagined a dinner party scene where everyone's sharing names, careers, families . . . and what would I jump in with?

I'm an education policy professor.

That sounds good. People get that. That sounds respectable.

I'm a medium and holistic healer.

Hmmm. That one doesn't roll off the tongue so well. That's going to get blank stares. Questions. Ridicule maybe? I don't like that.

But you know what, I can't even think of the last dinner party I've been to. In the famous words of Fred Armesen playing Joy Behar on The View, "So what?! Who cares?!" So you get some weird stares. So you have some offbeat conversations. So people don't think you're playing it safe. And?

What truly wonderful idea has ever sounded practical or safe? Do you think the guy who came up with the Chia Pet cared what people thought of him? Olympic athletes begin training as kids, giving up countless "being a kid" moments for the dream of getting to the games.

So if you've been considering taking a jump of any kind, really, consider this blog post God's way of saying, "Hey, c'mon now, let's get going."

If you need more convincing, check out this reading of a short essay by author Kelly Corrigan.