Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Dream, and Dream Some More


My late father was a holocaust survivor who lost every member of his family. He lived this dark nightmare in his teens, and came out of it not only a physical survivor, but also a person capable of deep love for humanity.


When my stepmother asked him how he survived, she was not asking about factual practical details. She was asking about his psyche, which was exceptional in endurance and creativity.


“I dreamed,” he said. “I’m still a dreamer.” I imagine that wherever he is now, he's surely dreaming.


I realize that I’m his daughter in this sense. I have not had to endure the horrors of his youth, but I have had challenging times. From an early age, I, too, dreamed.


When I was in kindergarten, I imagined that I had a real Mickey Mouse for a special friend. My secret pet lived under my bed, where no one else ever saw him. When everyone went to bed, Mickey and I would talk for hours, and he even gave good advice, that mouse.


I continue to dream. Only now, it’s a focused engagement that winds up in the form of manuscripts for young readers. This is part of why first drafting a story is my mental and emotional salvation. The rest of the work is dues I pay for spending so many hours dreaming.


When friends tell me they can’t write fiction, I know they are not focused dreamers. Or perhaps they don’t realize that when they use their imagination to solve problems, there is focused dreaming going on, which they could use in serving a story.


To all you dreamers~~~



8 comments:

Traci VW said...

Here's to all the dreamers in the world! Keep on dreaming.

Evelyn said...

I'm so glad for all the dreamers out there--those of you who dream wonderful stories for kids, those who dream of this world being a better place and work to make it happen, ...

Vijaya said...

OH that reminds me of LA LA Land's: "here's to the dreamers, here's to the heartache, here's to the mess we make." Your father would've loved the movie and the music, Mirka. I'm glad you take after him and dream. Never stop dreaming.

Alicia said...

Cheers to you and all the dreamers. Thank you for sharing your story and for writing the stories of your dreams!

Alicia said...

Cheers to you and all the dreamers! Thank you for sharing your story and for writing the stories of your dreams.

Sherry Ellis said...

Glad your dad's dreaming kept him alive! Good survival mechanism.

janlcoates said...

Being able to escape into alternate worlds of our own creation is truly a privilege - and, a lot of the time, fun! I need to start something fresh in 2018...maybe an idea will come to me in my dreams!

MirkaK said...

It's hard to imagine a life without dreams, the ones we have at night, the ones we have during the day, the ones we secretly hold in our heart and mind, protecting them till they are fully realized.