I saw a commercial on TV recently that got me thinking. There is this woman all decked out and apparently foo-fooed with the perfume the commercial is about. But alas she is unhappy being part of the beautiful world she is in, drinkin’ champagne with other beautiful plastic people. So she dreams of being somewhere-anywhere else. Poor thing, all dressed up and nowhere to go. She walks up to a wall, pushes on it, it dissolves in front of her and voila she is in Paris. Yes I know I spend way to much time in front of the boob tube, but…
If you could walk up to a wall put your hand out flat on it, push and it would dissolve and fall away to reveal that you have been transported to a place of your dreams, where would you end up? A long white sand beach? Hike to the top of a mountain? A bubble bath? Paris? Think big- in this dream all expenses are paid! Even souvenirs are included…
For a regular person this idea should and could unlock the deepest, coolest dreams. But I, of course, had to take a closer look. Go a step or two deeper into the dream and find fault with each one.
Even though I can count to five and ten in four languages and can say bathroom in three languages, (always a good thing to know) I don’t speak more than four words of French and I have a hidden aversion to going somewhere where I don’t speak the language. My paranoia kicks in and I know everyone is talking about me! So Paris is out.
Ah, sigh! That long white sand beach. The sand, the sun, the warmth. The wonderfully cool drinks with little purple umbrellas and fresh fruit. Laying on a bamboo mat, watching the waves roll in… But then in comes a herd sand fleas hopping in sand that is so hot it burns the bottoms of my feet. And drat, the fact that I will have to wear a swimming suit, something that trust me, haunts me in my dreams! So nope, no beach.
Hike to the top of a mountain? Now this is a real close top finisher to my falling wall dream as I am very fond of the mountains. The trees, the bunnies, the smells of outdoors. All wonderful to dream of. But! First of all I would have to get there on a four wheeler or in a truck, as I don’t hike too much anymore. Legs going one way and Trina often going another way when on uneven land masses. But if I were to get to the top of a mountain would I like it there? Well as long as there was no snow, or ice… Or wind, I would not enjoy the wind that blows across the ridge of a mountain top-constantly. I know this to be true as I have been to mountain tops and the wind always blows. Why do you think the trees grow just below the ridges—to get out of the wind!
But I drink in the vista of being on what feels like the top of the world. Then after looking for a while—what else does being on a mountain top offer? Not much, except that long downward trip. So mountain tops will not be behind my magic wall.
Jeepers, I need to find something behind that wall.
Retrospectively–(Hey there’s a three dollar word if ever there was one!) Retrospectively I have always known what world would be behind the wall in my dreams. It would look just like where I am. Home. Yes, yes it is cliché to say, but as Pliny the Elder said some time ago, “Home is where the heart is.” So that is where you’ll find me-home.
Or occasionally on a beach or mountain top, just visiting though. But still not in Paris. I know they would be pointing and talking in French, about why I was taking a bubble bath under the Eiffel Tower and wearing a swimming suit!
