wishes

Whenever I am wishing for a better day, I just go to the place where I was happiest.

Did Disney ever get discouraged? I saw a documentary on his life. Throughout the entire film, he was constantly moving, encouraging, inspired and actively pursuing his dreams. He laughed and imagined, until his death of lung cancer. While he was living, he smoked incessantly. I wonder if we even notice what we are doing, while we are in the throes of laughter, imagination and dreams? Perhaps, we are living on a higher plane where it feels like nothing bad happens and dreams really do come true? Can you wish upon a star?

Laughter is Timeless

Imagination has no age, and

Dreams are forever ( Walt Disney)

Does it really make no difference who you are? When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true or so the song goes from Pinocchio goes. Can we really wish for anything our heart desires?

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those to love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

Have you ever driven by a freeway in a major city and seen tents where the homeless people live? Have you ever wondered if they prefer this lifestyle over living in shelters? Have you ever thought about what kinds of dreams they might have had or still do?

This makeshift camp caught my eye, because all around it were blue tents and tarps with people setting up homes.  If the photo were clearer, you could see blue tents up the hillside. These ramshackle structures provided more shelter and were bright pink so they stood out even more than the tents. Do you remember as a child how you could imagine so much, with so little to play with? You could set up a home and cook mudpies that tasted delicious. You could live in a cardboard box and close the doors to intruders. You could play for hours in make believe land. Is this what they do? Are they only coming out for basic needs and retreating into a world where we can’t go any more?

Otherwise, how can they tolerate this kind of life? How can we watch them?  It is a lot more complicated.  Once, I pulled out of a fast food driveway and up to a stoplight with a man standing in the heat of summer, sweating and holding a sign, “homeless- please help”.  I didn’t have any cash, but I had a supersized iced tea that was fresh and untouched. I rolled my passenger window down and he popped his head inside. He was about 50 years old and had white hair. He could have been someone’s grandfather. I told him that he looked very hot and thirsty as I offered him a cold glass of tea.  He looked at it and pushed it back towards me. He said, “Honey, I can’t drink that”. Why not, I asked? “Because I only drink alcohol, thanks anyway”. And, with that, he pulled his head out of my car window and went back to his post. That experience changed me. We all have choices. His choices were why he stood on the corner and rejected alternatives.

There is a difference between wishing to see your dreams come true and resigning as I did that day to say to this homeless man on the street corner, “As you wish”.