Hold Fast to Dreams

"Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow." ~Langston Hughes

By Kerry Schafer "Ring, ring -" "Hello?" "Hi, may I speak to Kerry Schafer, please?" "That would be me." "Kerry, this is Ms. Dream Agent. I just read your query and sample pages and I have to tell you I am blown away by your writing. In fact, it is so brilliant I don't even need to read the rest to know I want to sign you at once." "Um -" "In fact, I shared your pages with my best friend who is an editor at one of the big 5, and she's prepared to offer you a contract immediately..." What? It's my daydream, leave me alone. I can't remember a time when I didn't daydream. The content has changed over the years, sure, but the practice is pretty much the same. Once upon a time it was fairy princesses and knights in shining armor. And then amazingly cute boys who for some reason found me much more interesting than their real life counterparts at school seemed to do. These boys turned into men, intelligent and attractive and mysterious. All daydreams are not about lovely men, however. I have, in my mind, played brilliant piano solos on stage, talked to famous people, written complex and fascinating novels, and fallen in and out of love. There was a period of time when magnificent horses lived in my humble little barn, and I rode them at night, through the dark and wind beneath the moon. In my mind I have endless conversations with people that I would never dare to have in real life. When I'm angry I can say what I am really thinking without seriously damaging a relationship I care about. I can quite a job, or start a new one and see how it feels. I discuss issues at length with friend and foe, solve the problems of the world, create a brighter future. If I don't like the ending of a book or a movie, I just make a new one up. Once, when I was a teenager, a well meaning camp counselor drew me aside. She told me that daydreaming was unhealthy, a bad habit that I needed to curb. I chose to listen to Langston Hughes instead. Hold fast to dreams, indeed. Daydreams keep me going. They provide hope when things are dark, and sometimes the insight and courage to solve a problem that seemed insurmountable. They also lead to writing. How could anybody ever write a story or a novel without extensive daydream time around the characters and how they live their lives? Reality is highly overrated. As I often say - "nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there." To all of the other dreamers out there I say - keep on dreaming! You never know when we might just dream ourselves into a whole new reality.