What we need in our world are more dreamers. At least, that’s what we say. We need antidotes to what’s gray and dreary, serious and sad, half full and half empty. We need lightness and laughter and cups that runneth over. (Well, at least we can dream.)
Right now, we seem to have a dilemma over dreamers. We just witnessed our government get shut down over a Republican-Democrat dispute about dreamers, the young immigrants who were brought to America by their families who want to be citizens. They number 800,000 and are duly registered under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA.)
Many are enrolled in college, some are young professionals and they all have been brought here to fulfill the dreams of their ancestors. But instead they have become victims of a political tug of war. Anti-dreamers want to build a wall and deport these young people, aged 15-36, because they will steal jobs and change our culture. (Sonoma County has 3,000 DACA dreamers.)
There are other dreamers, too. If we look in our local kindergarten or elementary classes we will find rooms full of dreamers, young learners with beautiful minds and curious energy. They believe all dreams come true because we haven’t yet told them otherwise.
When we do our best we can still find many dreamers in the higher grades in high school and the junior college. We teach that anything’s possible if you work at it and don’t give up. Nobody ever said making dreams come true was easy.
“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it,” said Muhammad Ali, the prize fighter. “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
Our United States of America was built upon dreams, that all men (and women) can be free and equal and pursue happiness, liberty and prosperity. The earliest American dreamers were just like today’s DACA dreamers. All came from other countries and cultures in search of a better life, a free society and untold opportunities.
We need more dreamers now as much as ever. We shouldn’t be building walls to keep them out. Neither should we be electing politicians who have forgotten how to dream, we say.
Why do we have so many sad stories about dreamers? We too often turn them into martyrs. Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, are among so many others.
“You may say I’m a dreamer; but I’m not the only one,” sang The Beatles’ John Lennon. “Imagine all the people sharing all the world; No need for greed or hunger (just) a brotherhood of man.” And then he was shot and killed on a New York sidewalk.
Who are today’s dreamers? Who inspires us, teaches us to imagine, laughs in joy, believes in magic, reaches for the stars, has deep faith and beliefs and never gives up?
How can we have more dreamers and more dreams? As always, we should start with our children — and each other’s children. Support our local schools and teachers. Adopt a community cause. Volunteers make dreams happen. Always remember you are never too old to dream. Support our seniors and shut-ins, too. We’ve heard that a Meals on Wheels daily visit can be just like a dream come true.
Keep dreams alive with music, art and community gatherings. Accept Muhammad Ali’s challenge about the impossible. There are big dreams and there are little dreams. They all matter.
Living in Sonoma County is like a dream, isn’t it? One more quote, this one from Bob Dylan: “I’ll let you be in my dreams, if I can be in yours.”
