Year of Dreams
You want to do everything, he said.
How could I explain to my husband? It's true. I have dreams.
Not quite so extensive as everything, but dreams nonetheless. Not resolutions, mind you. After all, how many people really keep their New Year's resolutions? And where is the inspiration in resolutions?
Dreams, on the other hand, seem to be exactly the thing. They are open ended... at either end. If I say I am dreaming of being a skater, it doesn't matter that I can already skate on one foot and skate backwards and do the setup for a jump. It doesn't matter either if I never do a double axle. I understand that dreams can be unpredictable, that sometimes we don't even know what form our longings will take, in what dream they'll show up.
Still, this new year I am dreaming of dreams...
I want to skate in winter's lap, glide through months on one foot, spin past summer with a bag of French verbs that say, 'Mon cheri you can be a flutist again, brush up that guitar, dance if you wish, finish writing your book with a figure eight, be a better poet and friend, delve into the life of Dorothy Day, share a hot drink with Samuel Hazo, find beginnings and endings, put to bed a few old griefs, trace your dreams on the ice and follow them.'
Happy New Year, my friends. I hope you are dreaming too.
Eiffel Tower photo, by L.L. Barkat.
NEW LINKS TO THIS POST:
Charity's A Plan and a Future
POETRY FRIDAY:
LL's Random Acts of Poetry: Public Display of Affection at High Calling Blogs
Erica Hale's Poetry Friday
Mom2Six's New Year Poetry
Sarah's Enough (scroll to bottom of post)
nAncY's For LL, a poem on sweet dreams
Laure's The 1 O'Clock Afternoon Hour
Jennifer's Whatsoever Things
JUST BECAUSE:
I didn't know people named years when I wrote this post. But Ann does. I like that.
Labels: dreams, new year's
posted by L.L. Barkat at 8:54 AM
23 Comments:
hmmm, It is good to dream. I like the idea of dreams coming to me from God. They kind of are faint at first, and subject to my own imaginations which can be vain and off. But on the other hand God surely is at work to help us get it over the long haul.
I wonder if being awakened in ways that are annoying can be part of this. Maybe they are God's way of letting me know that the beginning of some of the dreams he wants to give me is right in front of me, and looks like Jesus and a cross. And so I'd better go for it. As well as for the more openly pleasant things like a glass of wine and playing Scrabble with my wife.
I, too, have a list of things I'd like to do. And it just may be long enough to be considered "everything." But you're right, of course. Dreams are wonderful things...
ahhh, dreams. I love what dreams awaken in the heart, how they touch and lure and tug until you can't help but turn and look and see what is maybe...just maybe...possible.
Thanks so much for the plug. You are too kind!
Love it!
Resolutions are so... dead. And they feel legalistic and devoid of life. Dreaming, on the other hand, gives life!
Can we ever have too many dreams? Can we be the sort of people who encourage one another's dreaming, rather than stomp it out?
Great thoughts for the new year!
i am in search of dreams... if you have any extra, please let me know
Dreaming of adventure is a frequent undercurrent in my soul. Gratefully, God and life provide plenty of those!
Ted... it is interesting to consider where our dreams come from. And whether we can trust them. In any case, I tend to think it's important to pay attention to the longing. And I love how you say we can be awakened in ways that are annoying. And how!
Billy... ha! Your list and mine. Twins. :)
Sarah... perhaps dreams are a touch of the divine in us?
Lore... you're welcome. I love reading your work. And that particular piece seemed especially apt for a post on the poetic in public discourse. After all, your words had the weight of the prophetic in them for what the world is currently facing.
David... I don't know if we can have too many dreams. I suppose at some point we have to start to follow at least a few of them.
Ed... thanks for stopping by. I was very touched by your own post on dreams and the loss of them.
Tami... oh! Are you an adventurous soul? (I think my dreams of going further in figure skating are semi-adventurous and they surprise me.)
let's just lay back in a boat
that is a decked out with pillows
along we will float
our minds will wander into dream
of seas of blue and winters white,
pink clouds with sun shining bright,
gardens of flowers, buzzing bees,
trickling brooks and green trees.
and when we come to the end of day
we will get out of the boat and say
how good it was to dream a dream
now let us go for some ice cream.
you can use the catbird seat any time you want.
I think dreams are SO MUCH the divine in us. I don't think we could dream if we weren't made for more than this world...but that's another dissertation for another time.
Dreams that exceed common sense, that's what I'm daring to imagine. The stuff of a sacred trust in a great big God who, indeed, exceeds my common sense and asks for my faith accordingly.
I feel so privileged to be his child. 2009 belongs to Him...his heart beating its truth within and through me, most days inspite of me. That's a dream worth the holding.
Thanks for holding God close in your heart and for continuing to offer your pen on his behalf.
peace this day and for 2009~elaine
What a perfectly poetic post...where would we be without our dreams?~Sharon G
Oh yes, Laura I am dreaming. I have a whirlpool of dreams swimming around in my head.
I love how your wrote 'I want to skate through winters lap, glide through months on one foot...' that was very visual for me and a lovely poetic note.
And yes, dreams are open ended aren't they? Even if we had a dream of something already fulfilled, we tend to build upon that dream to high goals, hopes, accomplishments.
Personally, I feel dreaming keeps us alive; it keeps us going towards the future in a positive manner wondering just will God make of us?
i dream of hearing the sound snow makes when it alights on something. and i dream of saying exactly what i mean when ink runs from the corner of my mouth and there isn't an eraser in sight. i dream of frontiers of thought and feeling that exhaust my timidity. and i dream of greeting myself at the end of each day, thankful for my own friendship. i dream of traveling to the far country of my imagination.
Happy New Year, L.L.
New Year's dreams . . . I so like that concept.
Happy new year to you too.
Beautiful dreams, LL. May they all come true for you in 2009!!
hi...
i just read a posts that has a theme of stones. i am passing it along first because of the stones, but also because it is a good message on forgiveness.
http://mark-bymaswell.blogspot.com/2009/01/who-is-going-to-throw-first-stone.html
hey, i forgot to tell you that the photo here of the i. tower just ROCKS!
oh, i just realized i used the word rocks...not as full and beautiful as the word stone. but, the photo is so cool, i have not seen a better photo of the tower before!
And what a "stone" you've left...
I've just finished your book.
I think your children will one day deem it a worthy treasure in their pockets--a stone of remembrance to carry them into their becoming.
Thank you for allowing your readers the same.
peace~elaine
Hooray! Sweet dreams, LL. It's hard for many a woman to fit everything in. We all struggle, but it is good to love life enough to participate in many aspects of it.
Happy New Year.
Just a quick note to say happy new year. I dream of staying on top of reading blogs this year! :)
I needed this because a part of me is afraid to dream anymore. And I'm nothing if not a dreamer. I have so many dreams like fairies without a baby's laughter. Sometimes dreams hurt. Sometimes they tickle.
Perchance to dream ... or tread softly my dear, tread softly, for you tread upon my dreams ...
Here's to all of us dreamers ...
8-)
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