Living the Dream, Dreaming the Dream

Once when I was at one of my many recent dentist appointments a man came in for a check-up and was seated on the other side of the partition from me so I couldn't see him. I heard the dentist greet him and ask how he was doing and what he’s been up to since his last visit and he answered, "Fantastic! Living the dream." At first I laughed at this. I heard the dentist laugh, too. I thought it was a fantastically sarcastic response: clever and unexpected. Ha! Living the dream. Who the hell ever replies “Living the dream?” Until I realized that he was being utterly sincere. He really sounded sincere. How can he say that? I wanted to challenge him. Something to the effect of, “Dude, you’re at the dentist; how good could it be?” Nobody can really say that, can they? Living the dream? And I decided at first that he must be a celebrity or filthy rich, or a motivational speaker or something. But really, how many celebrities could honestly answer as he did? And I’ve worked for a few multi-millionaires and they were among the most miserable people I’ve met on the face of the earth to-date. So, I thought about this all the way home (after receiving my new set of front teeth). I guess the only thing this guy really needed to be to answer, “Living the dream” and mean it was a person who is in sync with the way we should all be living our lives. Right? I wanted that. I mean, of course I have always wanted that – who doesn’t want that? - but I’ve wanted it somewhat passively and generally. So, being the neurotic, analytical person that I am, I started to dissect it. The following is a sample of my brainstorm.

Square one: In order for a person to live their dream, they must first…well...know their dream: be able to define it. So, what is my dream?
To be happy. Too general.
To make some amazing artistic contribution to society. Still too general.
To write a great stage play that is performed. Done it. Think bigger, more romantic, after all this is a “dream.”
To write a great script: stage or screen that gets performed and has lots of exposure and makes a great artistic contribution to society….Okay…and?
And, to find love. Real love. Not some I-love-you-out-of-guilt-and-obligation bullshit love. The big, sexy, hot, sweet, mutual, dependable kind. And?
To be free. Free to travel and think and work and live as I please. To be respected in my profession – whatever that is. More specific.
To be self- employed in a creative job that allows me tremendous freedom and to be respected in my profession. Still needs some work but okay for now.
To have the freedom to enjoy art of all kinds. To forever have a person I can go to for good conversation. For all my friends to be living their dreams and, what the hell, world peace.

It’s harder than you think – defining a dream. It’s almost as if, by definition, a dream is supposed to be the opposite of our reality, instead of an option for our reality, so we tend to not even bother indulging in the fantasy of it. I know I don’t do this enough because I like to be considered smart and practical and realistic and responsible.

Dreaming involves imagination. Imagination is something I used to have in abundance in childhood and today working on creative stuff gives me permission to use my imagination for the sake of creative productivity. But I didn't, until recently, consider that not everyone can even access their imagination. I was having dinner with a friend who has been teaching a creative writing program for high school students this summer. She explained to me that the ones who are the better writers are the one who have developed an inner vision and imagination. Not only can they write better, but they can comprehend and envision what they read better. But there are people, she tells me, that she has encountered over years and years of teaching high school and college students, who are actually handicapped when it comes to accessing their imagination and this keeps them from ever progressing in their writing skills and also keeps them from being able to experience great writing and generally progressing in life. they cannot retell a story they have read or heard because they can't see it. They just can't access what is not real and in front of them or something that is not a scene on television or in a movie. They are imagination-challenged.

So, I think about these imagination-impaired people and wonder how much this inhibits their life. Man, are these people missing out! This is so very sad to me. So, I don't want to take mine for granted or dismiss imagination as something just reserved for creative projects. Imagination is extremely important to life. I may not be able to say I'm living the dream right now, but I want to at least be able to say I am dreaming the dream. There is value in that alone.

So, what would it take for you to be able to answer that you are living the dream?
Or could you say this now? If you are not living it, are you even dreaming it?

And to that end, I have already started putting into action the self-employment dream. I have had it before, but have better direction on it now. So, I will keep you posted on my progress as I develop this and plan to escape my cubical work-existence.

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily...