There is a song by the country singer Faith Hill entitled, "Fireflies". It's about the innocence of a child's dreams, and how as we grow we often lose that ability to look beyond the limits of reality, to imagine the impossible and maybe, even make it happen. (Listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnRPzpA4VCA)
Every little girl knows what a princess is, and aspires to be one. Granted, some want to be like Cinderella, dressed in beautiful gowns and crowns and giving tea parties and dances. Others, such as myself, take more to figures like Princess Zelda from the popular Nintendo games series. She has the dress, but she is also very prone to jump into monster-slashing battles alongside the game hero Link. Best of both worlds.
Whatever she likes doesn't matter. What matters are two very important ideas: the first idea being that she is both beautiful and valuable as she is (another huge topic for a different blog), and the second idea being that she can dream.
dream (drm) n.
1. A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.
2. A daydream; a reverie.
3. A state of abstraction; a trance.
4. A wild fancy or hope.
5. A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration: a dream of owning their own business.
6. One that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful
[Emphasis added]
Take a close look at the last three definitions, the ones I've italicized. To put that all into one feasible idea, a dream can be broken down into parts:
> Wild, Fancy - something so big it would never happen in one's regular day-to-day life
> An Aspiration, Achievement - a goal, something that can worked towards> Gratifying, Beautiful - something so lovely and enjoyable it couldn't be forgotten
In one sentence, a dream is something that you normally wouldn't experience, but would never never forget if it was to happen, and it something you can earn.
That, however, is an adult's way of looking at it. A child simply says, "I wish I had a pony." She imagines the pony in her yard, where she could pet it and groom it and ride it, where her and the pony would be best friends and spend each day together in each other's company. An adult making the same wish says, "I would love to have a horse. I wish that I could have money to buy it, a place to keep it, time to ride and take care of it, and the knowledge to train it."
We have been corrupted by our own adulthood. No longer are we able to just dream; all our dreams are accompanied by limitations.
Not to say that you can just have a horse. The adult is right in forseeing the responsibilities that would come with ownership. But the dream itself, the idea and longing, should still reign free, unfettered by the world-weary harness of responsibility.
When I was younger, I watched shows like the Lion King and Kratts' Creatures. I dreamed of what it would be like to be in a lion's natural habitat, to see a warthog in a mud hole, to gaze upon herds of gazelles and zebras as they paraded across the savannah. I knew, because of school, that they lived on the other side of the world. I had an idea that it would take a very long time and a lot of money to ever get there on a plane or ship. But I never connected that with the possibility that I could go. Little me, in Kelowna, never expected to somehow wind up beside a majestic lion on the other side of the planet. I didn't understand that I could just pay for a plane ride, but I never gave up on dreaming. As Cinderella says in her little song, "A dream is a wish your heart makes."
When I was young, Africa to me seemed impossible. I had a heart wish to see it, but what could a girl do? Turns out, anything I want. Because dreams don't have to stay dreams forever. Either you lose them, or you use them. I used my dream. Two years ago, I spent six hours in a van watching lions and giraffes in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, Africa.
Right now, I'm making another childhood dream come true. I've always wanted to explore castles, and forever been fascinated with kings, queens, and the history, adventure, and romance in the tales of Robin Hood and King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table. I thought, years ago, that because these things were hundreds of years old, they were gone. In a sense, that is true - the culture of royal courts and the excitement of swords and bows that attract us in those stories are things of the past. But the castles and the people (although long dead) were and are still real, and many do exist even today. And I'm going to see them.
I've been looking for and praying about an opportunity to visit the UK, more specifically Ireland and Scotland, for over a year. I looked into a few different things that didn't really fit into my budget and time allowances, but I never stopped dreaming. A few months ago now, I contacted a pastor in England asking for advice on who I could contact about potentially volunteering with a church or organization somewhere in the UK, and lo and behold, his own church can and I'm now staying with him and his wife for six weeks. I'm also traveling to cities in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and possibly France.
And even though I'm now an adult, and understand that I have to pay a whackload of money to go, and find places to stay, transportation, food, etc... even though I have to be "responsible" for every aspect of this trip, sometimes I just stop myself for a minute. Thinking about all of that, and trying to plan a two month excursion for myself, by myself, gets stressful, even with the excitement and anticipation. When I have the numbers and prices from thirteen different train stations listed in comparison to a Britrail pass and bus schedules for Dublin and it's all running around in circles in my brain, I stop. Find a picture of one of the castles I plan to visit. Close my eyes, forget temporarily about all the prices and options, and just imagine myself standing within the walls of a structure that's 700 years old and was visited by the royal families of three or four countries. I just see myself inside the walls of the White Tower, or looking at the final resting place of King Henry VIII, and I know that no matter how much stress, worry, excitement, or anticipation courses through my head, I will always have that ability to go back to the simplistic dream of my childhood to 'see a real castle' - and to know that my dream, through my own planning and hard work, is coming true.
Two things I have learned through this process...
1) God's timing and prayer never fail you. I know now that had I been accepted into the YWAM program or a nannying position, I wouldn't have been satisfied. All I wanted out of those was to travel; I was looking in the wrong place for the wrong reasons. This opportunity provides exactly what I was looking for: the ability to travel and see lots of places and faces, but also to stay as part of a family and really experience the culture through eyes free of "tourist" glasses. All things are possible through God if we wait patiently for Him to provide us with the reality of the vision, and remember that it doesn't - and usually, won't - come in the way we expect.
2) Never stop dreaming. As soon as you give up your heart's desires - however far they may seem now - you lose much of your reason to live. The person who has nothing to dream about and aspire to has no reason to get up in the morning, outside of their personal responsibilities to family, work, the church, or anything else they've committed to. However, the folks who get up every day because they 'have to' burn out more easily and faster than one would think possible. Having a dream is a refreshing reminder that life doesn't have to be humdrum and gives us something to work toward, and when we reach the goal, a huge reward in the form of something that we've been waiting and wishing for, sometimes for years.
Something else I've come to learn has to do with the relationships in my life. Having these dreams of traveling from my childhood being realized, it's showed me that God knows and remembers not only my needs, but my wants - even those I may not even yet know myself. Another dream every little little girl imagines is being swept away by the fairytale handsome prince - and that one only grows stronger as we get older. I used to dream of being done school, getting my driver's licence, and of course traveling. I wasn't too concerned with boys when I was younger. But as my dreams are either given up (such as being a pilot - not really into that anymore) or fulfilled, new ones take their places. I dream now of having a career and a husband, and I know that even though I'm not one hundred perecent sure how those will happen yet, as long as I keep praying, waiting, and watching for an opportunity, when I am ready God will make those things happen, too.
PS: Did I mention I bought my plane tickets last night?
