WAIT…is dreaming only for the young?
Hi, Thelma here. From Thelma and Louise’s Cleaning Co. Tag line: WE CLEAN TO THE EDGE AND OVER. In from a day of house cleaning. There’s nothing like leaving a house spit and polished. Well, I don’t actually spit on anything. Although I have done the old lick and rub technique once in a blue, ya know? Who hasn’t? Come on, you know you have too. Well, you’re mother has…on your face, none the less!
I NEVER SET OUT TO BE A CLEANER.
I didn’t sit in my bed, as a little girl and dream of scrubbing other people’s toilets. Wishing I could just spray and wash down someone else’s shower. Just yearn to wipe up teeny tiny hairs from various parts of other people’s bodies…and run a vacuum over a cat covered carpet. My dream never included scraping snot off of other kid’s walls and emptying garbage cans containing all sorts of discard.
Is this anyone’s dream? Anyone? Please, if it is…comment below. I’d looooove to hear from you.
Then again, I think that goes for a whole bunch of us. The things we are actually doing as work…were never what we saw ourselves doing. I mean, look at your friendly neighborhood garbage collector…think he ever sighed himself to sleep…excited for the day when he could drop maggot invested castaways into a giant truck? Or freeze his B-jeebers off in 30 below weather?
As a kid, I dreamed big.
I had visions of standing on stages, making people laugh and cry. Helping them lift covers off things and look underneath. See sides they had never seen before. Thoughts they had never thought to think. My dreams were deep and wide. I bowed without shame. Proud of my story. The one I had just put out into the world.
People clapped. They stood. They beamed. All because I had the courage to stand alone, in the cold glare of the spotlight and spin a yarn…weave a tapestry of pushes and pulls. Notes of discord and harmony.
However, life has a funny way of passing us…leaving us standing with our thumbs out…waiting for a ride. We get busy…living…and living takes money…and money is seldom made by dreaming…and dreaming is for the young.
Wait…is it?
Can a dream of long ago, still be marinating in a soul? Can a crazy thought still grow legs and let you run with it? Can a deep deep sigh still escape from a neglected remnant…a fragment…of a story, not yet finished?
DO DREAMS HAVE AN AGE LIMIT?
A few years ago, I decided no. That dreams are active, living things. That can settle, but never sleep. I nudged mine. It grinned at me and said, “It’s about time.”
I wrote that thing…it came alive. I stood on stages and felt the courage coursing through my veins. The music of my long ago dream played. Loud and strong. Soft and long.
People clapped. They stood. They beamed. I bowed without shame. Proud of my story. Feeling that little girl of long ago smile at last.
Are you like me? Doing something you never set out to do? A teacher? A Mom who stays home. A Dad who drives truck? Are retail hours really well known to you? Or maybe a drive thru window. Can you flip burgers like nobody’s business? Might you be stuck in traffic, ubering someone’s lunch? You never wanted to do this. It wasn’t part of your grand scheme of things.
Alas, it’s where you are. It’s what you do. It puts food on the table and shoes on your tired feet. Or pays for field trips for your kids and an occasional treat to Mickey D’s. It’s not a flashy job. One that gains you accolades or certificates on your wall. It’s not even a job you look forward to doing most days.
Nevertheless, you’re doing it!
You are putting one foot in front of the other. Heading out the door. Pushing through the feelings. Putting your hands and feet in. Scrubbing. Teaching. Cashing cheques. Writing notes. Adding numbers. Driving bus. Wiping noses …plugging away.
I applaude you! I know what it takes to do a job that isn’t your dream job. Day in and day out. I also know…if you really hate it…you can change it. Which sometimes is easier said than done…especially if you are the chief bread winner. Or your income is not just “extra” income.
I also know…dreams don’t die. They may lie dormant for awhile…years sometimes…but there’s still life in them. So, I challenge you…this year…nudge one of them awake. Swiffer the cobwebs off of one of them. See what I did there? :)
Write, paint, ski, take piano lessons, learn to dance. Try yodelling. (that’s a legit dream of mine…don’t judge) Start a blog. ;) Whatever you dreamed, when you were younger… something you wanted to do someday. Pick it up! Wake it up! Stir it up!
There are no age limits on dreams!
My 23 year old son and his girlfriend are learning sign language. My 40 something(you’re welcome Luz) sister went back to school. My 91 year old mother in law has taken up painting! She’s amazing!
SO DO YOUR JOB…BUT REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS
So do your job…countries are made on the backs of hard workers, but remember your dreams. Our hearts are stretched, filled and gratified when we shake them awake again. When our younger dream filled self…smiles at us and says… “It’s about time.”
P.S. If your everyday job IS your dream job. Raise your hands and thank the Lord. You are walking on rare ground, my friend.
P.P.S. Cleaning tip from Thelma. Always keep several Get Well Cards on the mantel. That way if people pop by…they’ll think you’ve been too sick to clean.
