Wishes

I love to wish. I wish on stars and wishbones and dandelions and when I tie my paper straw cover into a knot and pull. But several times I've been told wishing is silly and a waste of time and that goal setting is a much more productive use of one's time. Now I completely agree that goal setting is necessary and a wonderful way to accomplish things, but can it really replace wishing? I mean, I can't set a goal to fly, or be accepted into hogwarts or to meet Shakespeare and have afternoon tea with Dickens in the same day. Wishing lends to the imagination and gives the heart and mind a moment to entertain the impossible and remember what it feels like to be a child certain she is capable of anything and how free it feels to actually think that. And you can also wish for realistic things. Like, I wish to write a book, travel to Rome, fall in love for eternity, dance in the Hawaiin rain again, and speak one of the romance languages fluently. Wishing reminds you to dream and hope and think outside the boundaries the harsh reality the real world sets for you the moment you start to grow up. Now I understand the warning presented by those who do not believe in wishing. If you wish too much or if you constantly wish away your past and your mistakes, and can find yourself at the end of your life with empty memories and only unfulfilled wishes to fill your heart as it beats for the last time. Not to go all Harry Potter nerd on you, but Albus Dumbledore said it best: "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live". So yes, I must wish and hope and dream and feed my imagination, but I must not forget to live and accomplish things with my life as well. My wishing can inspire me to action and I can fulfill my goals AND my dreams. Wishes and goals don't have to be mutually exclusive. So this summer (I know it's spring but this is MY summer vacation) I wish to get a job, visit with those I love, stay up all night, go running every day I can, lift at least one person's heart, and develop better letter writing habits for my friends soon to leave on missions. I may not accomplish all of these things this summer (though I desperately hope I can get a job) but my wishes have given my vacation potential purpose and meaning. I may not need a shooting star or a straw wrapper that rips just right, but by wishing and dreaming I become a productive and fulfilled member of humanity, and I would never trade that for anything in the world.

             "Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness"
                                    -Spanish Philosopher Baltasar Gracian

Simplicity

I feel as though in our modern world that it is almost impossible to be simple. Even while I was designing this blog I chose the "simple" template, but it was anything but. It seemed as though I had to pick a different color for every inch of screen and there were so many options for word fonts and page layouts that I felt overwhelmed and avoided working on my blog for days until I had a vague inclination I had a few ideas of what I wanted. I'm not saying that having a myriad of options is a bad thing. I'm happy I could make my blog (thoug I'm probably the only viewer of it) look how I wanted it to. But sometimes I feel as though many options can complicate things that were never meant to be complicated. What's wrong with just putting words on a page without a specific font, color or layout? It would accomplish the same thing I'm accomplishing right now; my thoughts are in written form and somewhere else besides my brain. We get so caught up in options and being "original" that we forget the simple purposes and motivations for our actions. At a wedding, everyone becomes so distracted by the wedding colors, the food, the cake, the dress, the decorations, the cost, who can bring the most expensive gift, we forget the most important thing is that two people have chosen to love someone else for as long as they exist. It's as simple as that. Wedding colors and decorations are nice and beautiful but not really of that much importance. In our studies we become consumed with getting the best grade and gaining status in academia that we fail to remember the whole point of gaining an education is to broaden our knowledge and improve ourselves. When choosing a cell phone the important thing becomes what color it's going to be or how many new gadgets and settings it has, and we forget what a miracle it is we can contact almost any loved one in any place in the world with the touch of a finger; people are no longer so far away. Words are simple. Writing is simple. Meaning is simple. Purpose is simple. Questions are simple. Answers are simple. Love is simple. People are simple. Life is simple. Don't be like the rest of the world, so consumed with options and over-complicating a world that was meant to be beautifully simple in its creation. Remember your purpose, remember the simplicity of life and I promise it'll be easier to simply be happy in all that you do. I've learned that simplicity is the key to happiness. It's as simple as that :)