Daydreaming - Please Knock!

My sister Stacey posted this photo on her Facebook page on Thursday. Due to the "snow storm" here in the Cincinnati area, most school systems canceled school. Cameron's school system was no exception. I talked to Stacey today and she said that she walked upstairs in their home and saw this sign posted on on Cameron's bedroom door.
I love it!!!!! I first of all love it because this is so Cameron. He likes to make signs and write. He is also very creative and it does not surprise me that he would take time to daydream on his snow day. Of course, he also wants his family to know what he's up to.
I used to daydream a lot. It used to be a regular part of my life. I remember lying on my bed covered with a red corduroy bedspread and just looking up at the textured ceiling and dreaming. I would dream about what I might be when I grew up. I would dream about what my future life was going to be like. I would dream about what kind of car I would drive when I was old enough to drive. I would dream about where I might live when I grew up.
I also did a lot of daydreaming in the living room of the house in which I grew up in Mishawaka. I would sit on the couch and read the World Book Encyclopedia and look at maps of places that I hoped that I would visit one day. I read about people who had changed the course of history. I especially loved to read the articles about the Presidents of the United States. Many of them had full page color pictures of the Presidents and photos of their homes. As I read these articles, I daydreamed about having conversations with the Presidents and asking them questions about their lives and times.
I also would daydream in the living room of that house on Linden Avenue in Mishawaka when I listened to the stereo. I would put on Carpenters records or listen to John Denver on 8-track tape and lie on the green shag carpeted floor. Those were times to just get lost in the music and let it take me to a new place in my life and soul.
I think that I can learn something from Cameron's sign. I need to spend more time daydreaming. My writing class has helped me to see this also. I too often go through life with the television as my background noise and I don't ever take the time just to sit and think and even dream. I too often don't allow myself time to be creative and express what's really on my heart and mind. I somehow ended up being much more of a doer than a dreamer.
I know the church stifled a lot daydreaming time in my life. The institution in many ways hates dreamers. It rewards doers but not dreamers. It talks a lot about dreaming and having a vision but really doesn't want pastors or others wasting time dreaming. There are hospital visits to make, statistical forms to complete, and meetings to attend. In a mainline denomination that is losing thousands of members every year, there's no time to dream.
Sadly, most of the people in the churches that I served had stopped dreaming in their lives also. Many of them stopped dreaming in the 1950's and by the time I met them they didn't even know how to dream. They also didn't want to dream for fear of where those dreams might lead. It might mean that they might have to give up their favorite pew or let go of a tradition. It might mean that they would actually follow God's radical path into the future rather than worry about the aging boiler system in the church building.
I think that if I were to make a New Year's resolution for 2011 it would be to daydream more. I want to dream God-sized dreams for my life. I want to remember and renew that part of myself that is still a daydreamer. I want to look to the future and see my life as it could be in the light of God's love. I want to help others realize their dreams also. This might be the dream of home ownership through my work with Habitat for Humanity or it might be helping people to dream of using their gifts to serve God in new ways in the church I attend.
I guess the first step might be for me to make a sign like Cameron did. This doesn't have to be a literal sign but instead the intentional carving out of time on my calendar to daydream. It would serve to let people know that I am in daydream mode. This would be time to allow myself to shut the noise of the world out and just dream. I wish I could find a piece of green shag carpeting to lie on. I think this could really enhance my dreams. :)
I hope you are having a great weekend and have some time to daydream. Thanks for being a part of my journey!