(under the table and) dreaming

I'm not really under the table, but I have been doing a lot of dreaming lately, inspired by Dana's post the other day. I've always loved that lyric, though, so it seems a fitting title to my post. I clearly remember being a child and lying on the floor, sometimes under tables, looking at the world around me from upside down. It always seemed so magical, that other perspective. Sometimes you need a different perspective even as an adult. Things look different lying under the table. And maybe making a list of dreams doesn't really turn the world upside down, but it does bring a certain childlike joy to your perspective. It makes everything seem more possible. Or at least, makes it seem as if there are many possibilities. As children the possibilities were limitless. Only as adults do we edit out those possibilities. We limit ourselves. Not long ago a friend of mine said something to me about how he has let go of the dream of learning to play a musical instrument. That seemed so sad to me. I like having dreams. And yes, some of them aren't very realistic, but letting them exist unedited in my world makes life that much richer. After reading Dana's post, I picked up a little notebook I'd recently found in the dollar bin at Michaels and started writing a list of dreams.

Fitting that I use a notebook with a giant strawberry for my dreaming. I need to dream big. You need to dream big. We all need to dream big. Because without big dreams, what is life? 


Because Dana was so brave to share some of her dreams on her blog, I thought that I should share a few of mine here. No particular order. And as you can see, some are big and some are silly and some are realistic and some probably will never happen. But it's amazing what writing a simple list like this does to your mood. Try it. You'll see.

• learn silversmithing and make botanical jewelry
• have a pack of dogs like Sigfried in All Creatures Great and Small
• travel to Provence to see fields of lavender in full bloom
• study aromatherapy and herbalism -- perhaps with Jeanne Rose and Rosemary Gladstar
• design and make my own sweaters
• write books and have them published
• have a little shop like in my story
• learn how to make cheese
• live in a bungalow
• live in a modern style house, all angles and glass
• have a treehouse/playhouse/airstream trailer
• make jewelry from clay
• have a secret walled garden
• become skilled at some sort of martial arts or fighting (kickboxing)
• become a florist
• learn to play the violin and piano

I could go on and on and I will probably keep adding to my list because I will always keep dreaming. Our dreams tell a lot about us, don't they?

Perhaps dreaming is so important to me because I am a writer. I dream, imagine, invent. I've sometimes thought that it's ok that I won't become all of the things I dream of becoming because I can always write about them instead. Characters in my stories can be florists and violinists and combat stress with kickboxing. I thought I'd share a little snippet of the story I mentioned in the list with the dream of having a little shop.

Mary co-owned a little shop that sold, among other things, flowering plants.  Before she became involved with it, it was one of those stores that I always looked at and always wanted to go in, but never did.  Her owning it gave me an excuse to finally go inside.
            Inside, the smell, Mary told me, was of jasmine.  I will never tire of that smell.  The store sits on a corner and gets good light for the plants.   Glass ornaments hang between the plants.  They catch the light and throw colored shadows across the tile floor.  It was Mary’s idea to serve tea in the store.  A different tea each day.  There are books, jewelry, furniture.  It’s a beautiful store.   In the very center of the room is a small fish pond.  It’s really a hexagonal aquarium set near the floor to resemble a pond.  The fat goldfish are not afraid when children poke their fingers in the water.  Usually they swim to the surface and mouth the fingers making children squeal and mothers, usually, shush.

A bit of an inconsequential piece of the story and yet, I love this imaginary shop. It's just as real to me as all of the once real and now closed shops that I can only ever visit in my imagination. 

I'm going to count this post as the first part of my duties for the Versatile Blogger Award. Sharon awarded me ages ago, but I kept having other posts I need to write (my list keeps growing, too!). Thank you, Sharon!  (I love her blog, don't you?). I know that this doesn't really follow the rules, but I've realized that I do not like to follow rules and that after years and years and years of always following every rule (and getting bent out of shape when others didn't follow them, too), I did not want to follow rules anymore. I've listed random things about myself here and here. Because I regularly share links to blogs I like (I'll be sharing more when I post about the participants in my Joy exchange... stay tuned!) and because I feel a bit uncomfortable giving out blog awards, I'm skipping that part, too.

 But what about you? What do you dream about? Write it down. Keep a list. Keep dreaming. Always.