It is one of my strongest held beliefs that these days, more-so than days previously lived in by our ancestors, are more hectic and mind-numbingly complicated than should be expected of people to handle. Terror alerts, lawsuits, toxins, traffic, digital EVERYTHING, the disappearance of the middle class, rape of the ethical media, scandals, corperatization of America….. it all has taken its toll and slowly seeped it’s blackness into our daily lives, tainting every part of our beings.
Which is why it is also my belief that to cope, it is necessary for every human to be working toward…. a dream.
Yes, a dream.
This summer, as I drove the Aquarius around the country, I armed myself with a pen and red velvet book…. ready to take on the task of discovering hidden American dreams of ordinary people. Within numerous towns nationwide, many citizens were approached by me- a stranger with shaggy hair tucked under a hat, jumping barefoot out of a VW, padding across the pavement toward them, and demanding them write three things for him- their name, where they are from, and a dream that they are currently working on for one person- themselves.
This book begins with my own dream.
“Matty McManson, Port Prozac, Florida…. I have a dream to drive a Volkswagen van around the United States.”
During the course of this summer… it scared me how many people stared at me with wide eyes of astonishment… as they came to realize that they did not have a dream to write for me. Or perhaps they did, but had forgotten about it. Or maybe circumstances had pushed it so far out of their mind, they were just starting to remember it, and realizing how long it had been since they thought about it.
As I was organizing my classroom three weeks ago, back home, at interesting, and dangerous thought crossed my mind-
“Wait a second…. I completed my dream.”
It was at that moment I realized I had become one of them- someone who didn’t know what dream they were currently working on.
To be honest, it scared the living hell out of me. I was now an empty shell, void of any crazy plan, any illogical scheme…. no daring dream to speak of burning inside of me.
That night, I returned home and sat down on my couch with a drink in one hand, The Road Less Traveled in the other. I had a plan- find a dream.
It was to be something exciting- life changing.
It was to be something meaningful- making me proud when all is said and done.
It was to be something… new- never been done before by me- completely uncharted territory.
Life changing, exciting, meaningful, uncharted territory….
This is how I came to set a goal… a new dream… something to systematically work toward, doing whatever I have to, to ensure I achieve it… morals, logic, and reasoning be damned.
I, Matty McManson…. will be married this May.
