Tamila,
a friend in Georgia, posted “ Everybody has a secret and
unfulfilled dream........”
Dream
On
Do
you ever do those tests on Facebook? Well, I know some of you do,
I've seen the results! What is your ideal car, what Disney character
would you be, where is your ideal holiday destination or what animal
would you be in another life? According to some of them the car that
most suits me is a Lamborghini, I should live in Germany and I am 83%
lion and 7% weasel, whatever that may mean! So,I admit it, I do them
occasionally, strangely not when I'm bored but more often when I'm
really busy, as a delaying tactic or for a break. It is, of course
all a lot of nonsense. The last one: 'What kind of child were you',
by chance, got it right, I was, according to the result a daydreamer.
Spot
on,
I
was a lot of other things as well but certainly I was, still am, a
daydreamer.
You
know how older people will go into a room and then not remember why
they were there, well, I was always like that... my mind was always somewhere else. It got me
into quite a lot of trouble at school, although it also provided me
with some amusement. Having the reputation for not paying
attention,one of my favourite tricks was to gaze out of the window
while paying 100% attention to what the teacher was saying. When he
inevitably tried to catch me out in front of the class I was able to
give a perfect answer, leaving the teacher looking, if not stupid,
at least a little bemused!!!
Despite
being a day dreamer I have never had a special dream, desire or wish.
I mean one thing, above all else, that I really, really, want to do
or see. I am sometimes slightly envious of those who do. I'm afraid I
don't have the focus or dedication, my dreams are many, changeable
and fragmented. To be honest, I tend to loose interest in things that
take a long time to achieve. Daydreaming, however, is not just about
unfulfilled dreams and wishes it is also about fantasy and escapism,
handy tools for dealing with reality, which is not always a bundle of
laughs.
One
of the advantages of growing up in a major metropolis was weekly
visits to the cinema and almost as frequent visits to the theatre. However as
I was mostly taken by my mother I got to see more than a few Broadway/Hollywood musicals. There were a lot of them about at the
time. I am told that I was always well behaved at the theatre,
indicating that the rest of the time I probably wasn't. I
certainly enjoyed our trips to the theatre in general but as a small
boy I had my doubts about musicals. The dancing did go on for a very
long time and it got in the way of the story and, although these musicals
often involved soldiers, sailors or cowboys there was an awful lot of
falling in and out of love and very little, if any, real action. At
least Shakespeare plays, which I could barely understand at that age,
had the occasional sword fight.
For
the adults, however, musicals were the ultimate fantasy.. an escape
from the dull, grey, austere post war reality of Great Britain, to a
place where the sun was always shining, where there was singing and
dancing in the streets and everybody lived, danced, and sang happily
ever after!
Ah
well – there is nothing wrong with fantasy unless it becomes your
reality...
and
there is certainly nothing wrong with dreams as long as they don't
become obsessions.
As
a result of these early cinema/theatre visits I have a
disproportionate knowledge of musicals from that era. Of a theatre
form I don't really like and of songs and music that are really not my thing at all. I wouldn't usually admit it but I can quote
whole chunks of songs from some of these musicals. That must be
why this lyric, from the stage and film musical 'South Pacific' sprang immediately to my mind:
“ You've
gotta have a dream.
If
you don't have a dream
how
you gonna make a dream come true"
July 2015
