The Beauty of a Dream
Dreams and goals are both great to have but differ in meaning. They aren't interchangeable. Goals are concrete things that you can break into chunks and accomplish on your own. You can achieve goals, make lists, and check things off the list when you are done. I love goals!
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis
Dreams, to me, are bigger broader wishes for things that I would like to do or places I would like to go. Dreams are lovely wishes for the future that may or may not come true. I had a dream list or bucket list of places that I wanted to visit, maybe you have a similar list? It was a pie in the sky list of amazing places that I wanted to see and experience some time in my life. For me, the beauty of dreams is the anticipation of something great in the future.
Some of the places on my dream vacation list: Santa Fe, San Francisco, Napa Valley, the Grand Canyon, Disney World, New York City, Florence, Italy and Paris, France. This photo was taken on the top of the Dome in Florence, Italy. I have a book called Art & Architecture of Florence and I used to read this book looking at all the photos, reading about the artists and soaking in the Italian Renaissance culture. When I came home from Florence, the dogged-eared pages in this book matched every single painting, sculpture and building that I had seen and learned about in my Art History class in college. The fulfillment of that dream was beautiful and added so much to my life.
This week I leave for a trip to the very last place on my dream list: Paris, France! I am very excited to visit Monet's Garden in Giverny and experience Paris. As I pack, plan and dream about this upcoming visit, I am so grateful to my husband for literally making my dreams come true and his comment to me was that now I get to start a whole new bucket list. Pondering finishing the dream list that I made in my head years ago before I had really traveled at all really fills me with emotion. Being grateful and appreciating what you have in your life makes all the challenges less daunting. I wrote about how having an attitude of gratitude can affect your overall happiness last week and truly believe this is what helps people stay positive. Looking forward to Monday morning tempers your whole week with an “I can do this” attitude as opposed to those who gripe about each task. We all have tasks, chores and responsibilities, I propose you meet them with gratitude for the gifts to complete them successfully and you will find they weren't so bad after all.
Some of the memories that I will always have:
- Watching the fireworks at Cinderella's Castle in Disney World with my family
- Hopping on a train on a whim and taking a fantastic bus tour of Rome on our last night in Italy
- Stepping into Brunelleschi's Dome, I highly recommend reading this book about how it was built. Fascinating!
- The orchestra tuning up at my first Broadway show
- Running down the cobbled streets of Munich in the pouring rain, laughing hysterically
- Recreating a scene from one of my favorite movies “When Harry Met Sally” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
For me, my new bucket list will start just like my last with wishes and dreams that I hope will come true but I won't rush them. Enjoying the view on the journey of life is half the pleasure. I hope that you have some dreams that you are keeping and nurturing. I also hope that you share them with someone special.
Some Bucket List Ideas — 1,000 things to do before you die
“A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep.” Walt Disney
Have you ever had the realization that something in your life was literally a dream come true? What was it? Do you have any things that you are dreaming about? Maybe a wish list for travel like I had? I would love to hear about it in the comments.
Featured image courtesy of drocpsu via Creative Commons.
@dbvickery One of mine has been to Paris on a school trip as well!
It is great to have a fun bucket list. I am really going to start over. Do you have any place on your travel wish list?
Brunelleschi’s Dome, I want to see that. I saw it in a documentary. As I understand it, it had a very innovative construction…Can not remember all the details, but I know it was quite the feat of engineering to complete it.
Bon Voyage!
@susansilver It was even more amazing than described in the book. It was an absolute engineering marvel and climbing to the top of it was great. The view was off the charts.
I hope you get to go one day, Susan.
I love this post Peg for so many reasons! I couldn’t agree more with your comments about having an attitude of gratitude and how appreciating the moments in your life will make the tough times easier. It also makes life so much more fulfilling. I spent too many years chasing the wrong dream and have vowed to spend the rest of my life enjoying every moment of my journey. Life is as beautiful and magical as we make it. All we have to do is stop to smell the roses along the way. Have a fabulous time in Paris!
@rradice I am so happy that you enjoyed it, Rebekah!
I think that the road that we take creates and builds us as we go. Maybe all the chasing of your wrong dream made you better able to appreciate this new path that you are on?
“Life is as beautiful and magical as we make it.” Yes! Yes!
In Paris, you must go to Rodin’s Garden and Museum. It is right near the Eiffel Tower and is one of my favorite places on the planet. The garden this time of year will be amazing. Seeing Rodin’s art in person is breath taking.
I loved this post Peggy. A dream come true for me was getting to live in London for 6 months. I was a professor at the time and took students from my university to London. It was odd how that dream came true. It started when my contact lens fell apart in my eye. A colleague took me to the eye doctor to fish out all the parts (ouch). On the way back to the office, I mentioned how I always wanted to live in London. Two days later she forwarded me an email about a teaching opportunity. The rest is history. You never know what will lead you to your dreams!
@Michelle_Mazur Thank you so much for the recommendation for Rodin’s Garden, it wasn’t on my list but I will try to squeeze it in. I do love seeing art up close and personal. We saw “David” while we were in Florence and it literally glowed it was so spectacular.
I appreciate you sharing your dream with me and WOW that is a great one. I have found that these opportunities seem to present themselves at just the right time. I don’t think that everything is purely coincidence. How could something so perfect just appear? Such a great gift and I am sure that you must have truly enjoyed those six months!
@PegFitzpatrick You can always just see the garden for 3 Euro. Go to the Eiffel Tower, grab a baguette, and have a nice lunch looking at bronze sculptures. It’s a truly remarkable place. So peaceful! I wish I was going with you! Have a wonderful time.
I did enjoy my 6 months in London. It is my spiritual home. I always yearn to go back as often as I can!
I see that you drew a distinction between dreams and goals, specifying that dreams may or may not come true. However, have you ever thought about using your imagination to realize your dreams? Its an idea that is explored at http://www.dreamsaw.com/ and you should definitely take a look at it because you might re-examine the difference between dreams and goals….
I see that you drew a distinction between dreams and goals, specifying that dreams may or may not come true. However, have you ever thought about using your imagination to realize your dreams? Its an idea that is explored at http://www.dreamsaw.com/ and you should definitely take a look at it because you might re-examine the difference between dreams and goals….