What Dreams May Come, Both Dark and Deep

The act of sleeping did not go well last night.

I woke up three hours after going to bed and just...laid there for an hour. When I finally did get back to sleep I had nightmares. Not gruesome, scary ones, but the ones that seem so real that they would tear out the heart of any mother. Or father. Or sister or brother.

Pretty much anyone with a soul...

Now I won't go into detail, because I don't want to be emotionally attached to that again. Just know that having to save your kids from physical harm is scary...even if it is only in a dream. Why are social norms non-existent in the world of dreams? At least they would be less scary. Geesh.

At least at the end of my dream my son turned into a burrito and brought the fear and dread coursing through my sleeping body to a sudden halt. After all...people don't just turn into burritos.

Even in my sleep I know that....

It took another hour or two to fall back asleep from that one, but when I did I slept deliciously sound and woke up refreshed around 4:30 am. When I did, I had the lyrics of an Eric Whitacre song coursing through my head..."What dreams may come both dark and deep, Of flying wings and soaring leap..." 

Appropriate I suppose.

Now I know I don't tend to be very serious in my blog, but today I feel the need to be. I woke up to the realization that even though things get rough that there is always a place of perfection. I found it this morning in the peaceful face of my sleeping little boy; that just hours before had been the subject of one of the worst dreams I can remember. I found it reveling in the crisp, cool air outside as I took the garbage to the curb. I found as I washed the counter top when I finished the dishes. I found it in the book of Romans as I read my morning devotion. I found it in the hugs and kisses my daughter gave me as she went off to day camp. It is everywhere.

It isn't always easy to see. In fact, more often than not, you have to look hard for it and even then you may not realize it. I remember reading an article or blog or something about a man who lost his job and was in financial ruin not knowing where to go next. When he got home that night he was greeted by his enthusiastic, drooling dog, and for just one moment, the stress was gone because all that existed was a man and his faithful dog. The dog didn't know the stress the man was under, all he knew was that the master he loved had returned home.

It may not seem like much, but those moments are everywhere. 

Look for them. 

Find your perfect moment, find your joy.


It really is everywhere.