I Dreamed A Dream

I had a dream once where I got a job at the State Fair as a “Fire- Eater”. The only problem was that I had no idea how to do this job, as I had never eaten fire. I tried for a long time to figure out what that dream meant. I think about the meaning of dreams often and can rarely if ever figure out their meaning. Dreams are like that.

When I think of dreams, I can’t help but think of my favorite Broadway musical. Let me just say that I love Les Miserable. The emotion of its music and story line are incredible.

I have seen the stage presentation on Broadway with the original cast and other off Broadway productions several times. All were incredible. When I saw the movie that was released, I couldn’t believe that critics actually spent time commenting on whether or not Russell Crowe could sing. Who cares what his voice sounded like? I believed his character, which is the point.

Anne Hathaway, for me anyway, stole the show with her rendition of “I Dreamed A Dream”. How could anyone not be drawn into the anguish and pain of her character? I felt what Fantine, Hathaway’s character, felt when she sang of her broken dreams.

I don’t write about this today as a movie review, but more to think about that scene. We all dream. Some of us dream in our sleep, while some of us dream sitting at our desk at work staring off into some other world that is away from our everyday life. Dreams are amazing and confusing at the same time for me.

I wonder if it’s true. Could it be that dreams are the window to the soul as has been suggested? What do your dreams tell you about you? What do my dreams tell me about my expectations of life?

For Fantine in Les Miserable, she was convinced that her life just wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. This speaks more to brokenness than it does to daydreaming.

Brokenness is a delicate word; delicate in that it can be used to describe horrible life-altering events in our lives. I believe it also can describe what we often do to ourselves. Fantine spoke of brokenness that was by no choice of her own. Many of us experience brokenness due to choices we make.

In thinking about confusing dreams I have had recently, I can understand why they make no sense. I wanted to learn more about the unconscious mind, so I turned to the only logical source I could think of for information - “Unconscious Minds for Dummies”. There, I learned that the unconscious mind (where our dreams take place) has no ability to process negative thought. Dummies.com expresses the sentiment this way:                                   

“Your unconscious can't process negatives. It interprets 'I don't want to be poor,' your unconscious mind focuses thought becomes 'I want to be poor.' Being poor then child, desperate to please, it helps you behave in just such a way.

That's why stating your goals in the positive is so important. poor,' you'd think "I want to be wealthy."

You have heard it said, “you are what you eat”. This article suggests that we become what our thoughts allow.

Can our negative thoughts really affect not only our outward disposition, but also our subconscious? The study suggests that negativity tears at our subconscious more than we realize. It’s no wonder our dreams at times make no sense at all.

Our dreams can say a great deal about our over-crowded schedules. Our dreams can also teach us a great deal about how we process information.

I dream of a bright and beautiful future. I have written about some of the troubles that I have experienced, but also am aware that dreams can come true and a positive outlook is a first step.

I learned some time ago that Not wanting to change isn’t self-love, in fact it might well be the opposite of self-love.

I have read a growing trend on the internet of people writing essays that basically say “I suck at something, but that’s okay and I love myself.” The authors will talk about how they struggled with their weight, lack of social skills, or go-nowhere career, but then stopped trying to change and started loving themselves.

That isn’t self-love; that’s laziness or even resignation. If you love yourself, you’ll want to have the best life you can possibly have and that means making the effort to build that better life for yourself.

As I mentioned, I believe in a beautiful future freed from all of the trappings I made for myself decades ago.

I want to change. I’m not afraid of change. I did dream a dream and I plan to live it to its fullest rather than live a life of conformity. What does that mean for me exactly? I can’t really say, but I’m certain it will be fa-bu-lous, (expressing as my inner Jack from Will and Grace would).