“If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?

– Thomas Lovell Beddoes

Would you buy a dream if there were a shop that sold them?  At first reading, I enjoyed the sentiment.  As I sat with it, I began to feel as though buying prefabricated dreams might be some sort of holdover from childhood.  As a parent, I know that I would watch my children grow and change.  When new talents popped up, I would conjure dreams of what my kids might be one day when their abilities matured.  They have used their abilities, but I could not have predicted the dreams they would make come true.

I remember being a child — one who had many options to explore as I decided who I would be as I grew.  I remember meetings with my guidance counselor.  She thought that someone with my Math ability should go to MIT and pursue a career with NASA.  I would sit in her office and wonder whether I might be invisible.  The only thing she saw was my highest test score, and she had no interest in hearing that there were other talents I wanted to develop.  It was then that I became certain that the only person who could dream my dream was me.

If there were a store with dreams to sell, I hope that you would window-shop and then go home to create a homemade dream — one that comes from your heart, one that feeds  your soul.  Cherish your homemade dreams, for they are the spark that creates you and makes you so very real.  Others can encourage us, but only we can dream our dreams.  Open your eyes!  Wake up!  Keep dreaming!