Dreaming in Reality

The winter chill is in the air...I felt the cold air hit my face as I walked out of my house this morning - and immediately regretted not putting a coat on! A good compromise were my gloves in the car which went on as soon as I got in to avoid the otherwise ice blocks my hands would soon become.

 

I'm a dreamer. I always have been a dreamer. That, and a hopeless romantic. And as I've found, both these things seem to have gotten me into trouble, and given me the best times of my life, in equal measures. Most people plan their lives - I dream my life. My imagination takes me far over and beyond the rainbow, as I dream the kind of life I want for myself. And of course, this has changed over the years, as it always does when circumstances, situations and people compel you to think and feel differently. I've always known what I've wanted from life - even when it has changed, I've always been so sure of the change, that it has felt natural and not forced.

 

But the dreamer inside of me has not changed. Neither has the romantic. The sceptic in me seems to have come out, more so recently than ever before, but secretly (not so secret anymore!) I still dream and I still romance. Romance the idea of romance. Although I have become more of a realist now (purely through choice), I still secretly (again, not so secret anymore!) watch Cinderella, Snow White and The Little Mermaid, and get lost in dreams. Dreams of a happily ever after - not neccessarily with someone else, but in life generally.

 

I do, however, think it's important to be realistic. I learnt that the hard way, and boy am I glad I did! A side of Realism is important with a main course which consists mostly of Dreams with sprinkles of Romance. It keeps you grounded and stops your head from floating too far up into Cloud Nine, which is where I spent most of my teenage years (and some parts of my early 20s!) - my mother always told me to come down before I regretted it forever, and I never listened. She was right - but then so was I. I don't regret one second of it, though I do wish I'd listened to her and become more realistic in my expectations, my dreams for life, for happiness...for love...

 

So I'm going to leave you with two quotes. The first by Henry David Thoreau and the second by Rumi - both that I completely relate to and hope you will see why:

 

"Happiness is like a butterfly.
The more you chase it, the more it eludes you.
But if you turn your attention to other things,
It comes and sits softly on your shoulder."

"Your task is not to seek love, but to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."

 

I'm a dreamer. A dreamer in reality.