dreamer

there are about a billion things i love about my family, but our individual and familial commitments to being passionate, ever evolving, and dedicated to the paths we take has got to be at the top of that list. my parents have never been stuck in the monotonous drudge that is working a factory line and going to the same wood paneled, carpeted house on the outskirts of some suburb in obscure america. which means that's never been the model for the six kids they brought to be. as different as we are, i like that we're living lives we love. missing each other has to be apart of these lives, but i'd take that over seeing each other every day and hating life outside of those visits.

i've been listening to the les mis soundtrack like it's my job. this movie restored my faith in anne hathaway and musicals. just kidding, not musicals - but definitely anne hathaway. her version of i dreamed a dream makes me want to jump around and then go find trafficked girls working freezing cold streets and tell them that they're beautiful and then secure their futures. all things in my power, right? ha.

I dreamed a dream in times gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted

my dad recently posted a blog about reflection and how he goes about looking at his past year and how he'll go about the next. i copied his questions and spent some time this morning doing some reflecting of my own and was kind of surprised at my answers. funny - i'm the one who's been living my life. but still - the ratings that i gave myself in the categories of family, work, spiritual formation, relationships, emotions, finances, physical, and recreation; made me kind of go "huh."

my biggest dream for the coming year is to dream. i think most of the tim & ann abare kids in some right are dreamers at their core. i want to continue on in that trajectory. i love being a dreamer. it pushes me to always be on the look out for passion, hope, and others.

don't let your dreams be bygones.