4.07.2009

Thanking Dreams


I was watching HGTV the other night, and a couple on the show was looking for a house with an ocean front view. The places they saw had great indoor spaces with tons of space, open floor plans, enough guest rooms, but no significant view. No breathtaking glimpse of the glorious ocean nearby. Now, they wanted a place with a view. That was their only requirement. A home for relaxation. A home where they could enjoy the sounds of waves and see the sun reflect off the shimmering water. Then, they finally saw a place with spectacular balconies, offering picturesque views of the waterfront and surrounding nature. But when they got inside they didn't see all the indoor amenities the other homes offered. Now they were second guessing their dream of outdoor luxury to consider closet space.

Ocean front access, the sounds of water dancing across the pristine beach, huge upper and lower balconies to partake in the wondrous scenery of trees swaying in the wind, or an extra room with a closet for Aunt Gerdie when she comes to visit once a year. Tough choice, eh? Well guess what they chose? The most expensive home with a bathroom for every bedroom and a kitchen with an island. They could have had a view of an actual island, but they chose counter space and toilets over their dream of a home with a view. I was outraged! I yelled at the TV, to people who couldn't appreciate the passion in my voice, "Listen to the ocean!! How can you give up the sounds of the ocean!?" But they did. The show ended with them in their new living room, sitting on the couch with some family, Aunt Gerdie no doubt, and everyone was just sitting there eating food served off their majestic island. No, not the real kind, but the kind with drawers and granite counter tops. I didn't understand how they could have given up so easily on their only dream of a house with a view.

I was stumped, pathetic I know to contemplate the choices of complete strangers who were on a TV show, but the decision really made me wonder what dreams I've quickly given up because something else seemed grand in comparison. I see the house the couple chose as just more toilets to clean and more money spent on junk to cram in all those closets. They saw it as a chance to spread their wings and their hospitality. But at the end of the day, after the guests leave and all the extra rooms are cleaned, their left with a view of the TV and the sounds of announcers, broadcasters, and actors, filling the minds of their already cluttered lives. I don't want to do that; give up one dream because I was taunted by another. I don't want to be sitting, with my new dream in hand, still wondering if my old dream is out there.

So I turned off the TV, got up, and sat down in front of my own view from the large windows in my living room. I scanned the horizon and saw birds swooping down into the trees and a plane flying across the pale Royal sky. I heard leaves rustle in the wind and felt the sun warm my skin. To have a view. This was my dream too. So why do I sit and enjoy its beauty less each day? Why do I close the shades at sunset when the lowering sun glides through my windows and illuminates the whole apartment? Because it puts a glare on the TV, that's why. What a way to enjoy my tiny dream come true. When my next dream forms, how will I thank it for coming to me? How do we thank our dreams? By enjoying them. By living them each day and not forgetting what life was like when we only had the dream, of our dream.

1 comment:

rae said...

beautiful...and true