Dreams

For some strange reason, I have been very nostalgic lately. Maybe it is because I have just recently undergone a drastic life change. Maybe, when everything around you seems so new, it can be overwhelming and you look to your past to provide some kind of buffer, familiarity, or connection. Like tonight. I keep hearing this poem by Langston Hughes in my head that my elementary music teacher, Ms. Adams, turned into a song when I was in first grade. It is:

Hold fast to dreams for when dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams for when dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow

It is amazing what sticks with you over the years. It has been over 20 years since I learned this, and I NEVER forgot it. Why did this poem/song stay with me for so long? I've read so many poems, learned so many songs--why did this one find a permanent resting place in my mind? I think it is because it is so simple, yet it is so tragically beautiful. I say tragically beautiful because I distinctly remember that the first time I heard these words, as a young child, I felt a strange mix of emotions. I was hopeful yet sad all at once. To me, it seemed as though the person who wrote this had experienced what life without dreams (or with a dead dream) was like and was pleading to us young children (who were just starting out) to not let the same thing happen to us. It made me think about MY life and how I had a chance, still, to hold on to my dreams.

Now that I am an adult, this poem continues to conjure up those same feelings. There are dreams that, for one reason or another, I had that have died or have gone away from me. Some of them I forgot, some I grew out, some I let slip away from me, and others I purposely killed. However, the dreams that were laid to rest are continually being renewed, revived, repurposed, or replaced. That, to me, is the beauty of dreams and why I am so thankful that we have the ability to have them in the first place. What a wonderful thing---to dream! Even more wonderful than that, though, is the ability to make dreams manifest into reality. Isn't that completely and wonderfully mind-blowing?! Sometimes I take for granted just how incredible it is that we can take something--an idea, a thought--and turn it into a REAL living, breathing thing. It is almost as awe-inspiring as the process of creating and maintaining life, itself!

Dreams can be your best companion. Sometimes, they can even be your only companion. So, to rephrase Mr. Hughes' plea...even if a few of your dreams may have gotten away from you...NEVER stop dreaming!