A (Literal) Dream of Hope

I had a dream last night, the first I've had in a while. And a dream is usually not something worth writing about, but this one was a little bit unusual. It made me remember something.

It had its fair share of nonsensical parts, as dreams do... It started in a vivid scene where I was water skiing (but without a boat pulling me) across lakes surrounded by pine trees... presumably because of our recent vacation to Michigan.

Then it transitioned to a scene where I was on the college campus where I went to school. One of the old buildings was getting very dilapidated and falling down on the outside, but they were renovating it on the inside and turning it into new dorm rooms.

That's where it got interesting: suddenly, I found myself considering which dorm to move into. I felt like I was back in college again. And then, we (my wife and I) were going to college again. We were starting over, as it were. I've forgotten most of the dream's details but the scene I remember best is when she was carrying her books in the parking lot of her new dorm room and I offered to carry them for her.

But what really stuck with me was the feeling the whole scene gave me... it could be best described as hope. Hope for our futures, that feeling of endless possibilities when starting out in the world. There was no politics, no responsibilities, no taxes, no feelings of being trapped. I'd forgotten what that felt like, and I didn't know that I had even forgotten it becuase of how hopeless the world feels right now. Life right now is nothing but burdens and cynicism, and there is simply no time to ponder hope. I know it's out there, and that in the end the Good Guy wins, but it feels like we have to wade through a valley of sludge to get to the ending of the movie. And I'm only halfway through my particular movie.

I do think that I'll feel hope again, albeit vicariously, through our son growing up. The possibilities are in fact endless for him.