Don't Be Surprised When Your Dreams Come True
An unexpected dream becomes reality 27 years later.
When I was a senior in high school I wrote a paper on Claude Monet, highlighting this painting (Meadow, 1879) and one other. Today my wife and I were in Roanoke, Virginia and went to the Taubman Museum of Art. To my great surprise, the museum was hosting an exhibit that included Monet's Meadow.
It wasn't a reproduction or a digital representation. It wasn't even behind glass. I could have reached out and touched it, though I dared not. There it was, 143 years old, the canvas touched by the Master's paintbrush that even at 18 I greatly admired.
27 years after I wrote about it as a kid from a poor family in Texas, looking at it in a textbook in the public library and never dreaming I would see it in person, there it was, inches in front of me. It's a serendipitous moment I will never forget.
We all have dreams that we think exist only in picture books, hopes that we don't believe could ever appear in front of us unbarricaded. And yet today another dream was fulfilled, beyond expectation or anticipation.
I won't tell you never to give up hope, for life makes us weary as much as it makes us wise. What I will say is don't be surprised when you are presented with your dreams despite your weatherworn spirit, and when those moments occur try to remember the sparkle that appears in your eyes.