Dreaming
Once in a while you bump into someone who inadvertently stimulates thought provoking reflection. Even at the time you realise the encounter is probably once and done, with very little likelihood of ever meeting again.
It happened to me last Sunday. As I pulled into a rest stop on the highway near Venice I fell into a conversation with a couple from Milano who had stopped there for the same reason as me, to have a coffee. As we sipped our coffee we somehow progressed from small talk to substantive issues, even though we had never before met.
I told them that I was grateful for the richness of the history and culture of Italy. They lamented the current unfortunate trend of building huge utilitarian structures, warehouses, industrial complexes, etc. all along major highways. The woman told me that when you see those purely functional buildings, it dulls the inclination to dream and dreaming is essential to living.
I started reflecting on dreaming, not the dreaming that happens during sleep but the dreaming we do while fully awake. What do we dream about? meaningful experiences, relationships, creative expressions of the human spirit in various art forms, giving and receiving love, personal inner worth, freedom, etc. The list goes on and on.
Nothing from this list can be bought, sold, nor constructed or contained in a building. These things are the substance of dreams that are crucial to keeping the human spirit alive and vibrant.
As I returned to the same highway I passed truck after truck, almost a virtual wall of them, hauling what? Hauling stuff, physical stuff that has been manufactured, stuff that will be sold by someone, purchased by someone else, then used, and eventually discarded. We live in an age of consumerism. Stuff is not bad, it just isn’t the substance of dreams and we dare not let it dull our dreaming.
Dreaming must be nurtured and protected. It is what keeps us really alive.
Thanks to the chance encounter with the couple from Milano last week, these thoughts crystallised in my mind.
Alex, July 2021
Photo by Lode Lagrainge on Unsplash
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Thanks Al for this lovely reflection. I appreciate the openness you and your conversation partners lived by, which made this whole encounter possible. Keep dreaming, bro! I will try to, too.
Your account of this chance meeting with the Milanese couple brought back to me a quote of the Serbian film director Dusan Makavejev:
“‘…that the goal of cinema is to bring the dream back into our life, and thus help us to confront life’s difficulties.'”
Al, thanks for the defense of dreaming in both a consumer and cynical age. Dreaming can so often be disregarded as escapism or a set a false hopes that will only lead to disappointment. I appreciate how your story depicts the life giving power of dreams.
Encouraging! When open to those chance encounters, such serendipitous encounters and conversations can be life impacting! Thank you for the encouragement to give myself permission to dream, to imagine, to explore possibilities, to “fly away” and be open to more of life.