Dreams are about the potential for more. [Pictures at the bottom.]

Dreams are about the potential for more. (Pastor Paul Parsons)

Soon, one of my close friends is moving back to Taiwan. We have had a standing ritual of hanging out on Thursday nights, during which we watch youtube videos (**think: #YOLO, Top Gear, Ana Tijoux 1977), play video games (**think: Super Smash Bros., Wii Party, Bomberman Gold Cartridge SNES Japanese edition), and generally just kick it. Upon learning that he will be moving soon, I did what any good dreamer would. I said, "Let's make the next 10 Thursdays count!"

So, we are changing it up. We have broken out of our typical patterns. So far we have seen The Whiskey Shivers (live music). We have gone out for FROYO. We watched the Heat woop the Pacers.

So, the catalyst of his impending move have charged my mental battery reserved for making plans. Now, we plan things.

Why are plans so quintessential to dreams? I think that the answer lies in the contrast between the comfort of what is usual and the challenge of seeking that which is novel. When we have usually scheduled programming in life - whether it is in meetings, classrooms, work, routes, marriage, and even friendship - it can lose some of it's sparkle. The life of a dreamer requires us to seek out the seemingly unachievable, the unforeseen, the ethereal.

One of the problems of being whimsical in dreaming is the need for spontaneity. The blooming of ideas sometimes strike the dreamer at a moments notice. The problem this poses is that you cannot always just stop what you are doing and immediately just fly away to chase whatever butterfly has popped up.

Let me give you a real life illustration of how dreaming can be disappointing, then, a real life illustration of how dreaming can be life giving.

I have been struck by dreams at all different times of day, in all different locations, in several different life situations. Before I had a daughter, I would dream up trips to various places. Classic example of the disappointing dream - it would be evening, you want to go out downtown, or to a coffee shop at 10PM, but your friends are sensible and they don't go out late because they have work the next day, so you try to kill the dream in your mind, but you can't because you want it now more than ever.

Memorial Day made for a long weekend a week ago, so I started dreaming up what we could do as a family that would be special and memorable. I came up with a day trip to Enchanted Rock. Katie was not thrilled with a hiking day trip to a location 1 hour and 50 minutes away, but she indulged my dream and we went in spite of the fact that it was impractical. I was thrilled! This made my life. Living out even this one dream was like breathing fresh air.

 The main difference between the disappointing dream and the life giving dream mentioned above was that the disappointing dream was disappointing because I wanted it immediately and I was not ready to be patient. In the life-giving dream, I informed all of the participants (in this case my wife and daughter) a few days in advance, which improved the ability of the requested parties to take part in and attend this life work.