WAKING DREAMS (From Left to Write - Book Club)

"It's amazing how we talk ourselves out of our dreams."

- THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS
by Laura Munson

A few days ago, my husband and I had a talk about our dreams. Big Dreams. Dreams with a capital "D".  And although I always knew it about him - that he had Big Dreams - having a real conversation about them, (especially as a newly married couple, and with all the implications those dreams would have on the life of our not-yet-one-year-old daughter) shone a bright light into the depth of his passions.

Reading Laura Munson's THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS stoked the burning embers of my own dreams.  And these past few days since I've finished reading her memoir, often quite funny and downright heartbreaking within the same sentence, my mind has been swirling with all the possibilities that I've been able to talk myself out of - all those elusive waking dreams that I have put on the shelf, waiting for a better time to start them (or more money to start them with).

There are writer dreams, singer dreams, motherhood dreams, wife dreams, travel dreams, dreams for my parents, dreams for my daughter, dreams for my siblings, weighty dreams like what kind of legacy I will leave, frivolous dreams like fitting into the same size jeans I did in high school, and realistic dreams (an oxymoron or an attainable goal?) like doing what makes me happy and feeling good in whatever jeans I'm wearing - no matter the size.

Telling me that I can be "too accommodating sometimes" is my mother's gentle reminder to me that I have the ability to be an absolute pro at talking myself out of my dreams... and not in a way that makes me unhappy, but in the way in which I more often than not put others' dreams before my own (and while it truly makes me happy to support those I love and see them get ever-closer to their dreams, it's not the same as shooting for your own stars).

Munson's reminder to me has been swirling in my head since I lingered on the last few pages of this book: "So what if I had to ask? Sometimes we have to ask."

My husband asks for his dreams.  He asks the world to make room for his work.  He asks his boss to recognize his contributions with more financial stability.  He asks his family for their support and love.  And so what if he has to ask?  So very many things would never happen if we never asked for them.  Tonight I will take a page from both these books, Munson's and my husband's.  And I will dust off those dreams.  I will take them down from their safe places and give them room to run.  And I will ask.

For more quotes collected from this book, visit Borrowing Wisdom.

Disclosure: I received a copy of THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS by Laura Munson to read and discuss as a member of From Left to Write.   The thoughts and opinions expressed above are my own.  Click here to purchase your own copy of this book.