Visions of Summer

It’s May and I don’t know about you, but winter and spring where I am, have been grey and rainy to a degree that everyone is stir-crazy and longing for sun. Not exactly the flights of fancy we love about this season. Hoping for a better May, I have taken to dreaming a bit more than usual with more than a little excitement since I’ll be working in Italy and Spain.

I am a classic over-achiever. I was raised to work hard; to be of service; to make a difference. If we were caught laying in the grass daydreaming, we were told to stop ‘taking up space’ and do something useful. During Lent, we were told that God didn’t care if you ate chocolate or sweets or even swore. God cared that you took care of someone less fortunate. And so we were given the task each day, to be of service to someone. Whether it was walking someone’s dog or carrying groceries, we were sent out on a mission to make a difference. It made me fall in love with being of service.

But it also made me late to the party of taking time to just dream. I reserved that luxury for my Saturday afternoons in the movie theater (we were allowed to go to the movies each weekend after chores). It was in that darkened theater, images of what I imagined real life could be like that I learned to dream. I fell in love with that too and had to discover a way for both achieving and dreaming to co-exist. Usually, I just left the dreams in the theater.

It wasn’t until I inadvertently became an author (not in my plan, but so happy it happened) that I discovered that dreaming makes you more productive, more creative, more connected to nature and even other people. I have found that when I am writing, there is more joy to be found with friends and fun, maybe because it’s so solitary a practice.

As I begin writing a new book, the first time I will co-author with a friend from Tuscany, Roberto Fabrizi, I am opening myself to dreaming once again. Usually, I bury myself in research from the spark of an idea for a book and when it’s time to write, I begin to dream; to see the book.

And then I clean. Yup, you read right. When it’s time to begin the process of actually writing, I clean; anything to avoid that blank page in front of me as I wrestle with the first words that will begin the onslaught of writing that will become the book.

This time, I’m trying something new. I am researching, but then walking away and daydreaming about the book; what I would like it to be. And cleaning. There seems to be something about cleaning that triggers my creative thinking. I know it’s weird.

So instead of a big, important message to kick off the month of May, I thought I would simply encourage you to dream.

Life is hard; we are divided (but not as divided as cable news would have us believe), so let’s take a moment to open our hearts and close our eyes and dream. We are bombarded with news, mostly bad, which robs us of the lightness that comes with dreaming, so we have to seek it out. It may be the only way to survive the ugliness of the endless barrage of upsetting images; of war; of loss of life; of strife here at home; of people’s worst impulses. We have to seek out goodness. I have discovered that most people are good and decent; they don’t spend time on Twitter or X or whatever the heck it is, being mean simply for the sake of being mean. Most people work hard, take care of each other and do their best to do no harm.

As summer takes hold and we move from cold and rainy to sweltering and humid, let’s dream. Let’s not complain about the heat or the humidity or the rain or lack of rain. Let’s look at our little gardens or patios or containers where life springs forth and dream. Dream of a world where compassion rules the day; where hatred is rubbed out and where our love for each other blossoms as brightly as the flowers in our yards.

And then, do something about it. As my mother would say, ‘stop taking up space and do something.’ Show kindness and understanding. Love each other, even those with whom you disagree. Refuse to be sucked into the climate of fear and anger. Life is good. You woke up today. It’s all uphill from here, baby.