Dreaming A New Dream

Like Flynn Ryder from Tangled, I too want a castle. But perhaps I'm more in love with the ideals of a princess and a castle that every girl harbors as a childhood dream. However, my dream was fulfilled when I stood on the walls of Dover Castle, the largest castle in England. I gazed upon the famed white cliffs of Dover. We read Matthew Arnold's poem, "Dover Beach". I looked out over the ramparts of the great tower and took in the classic rolling green hills, buildings scattered here and there and the magnificent view that nothing but a enormous stone tower can grant you. I learned about the royalty that lived there once. King Henry II built the castle to pacify the people after killing Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral (another story for another post). Whether or not it worked, I don't know but it was a good idea, people generally like castles. Later Dover Castle became incredibly important as a military base in WWII with secret tunnels, a hospital and "Operation Dynamo" for any WWII buffs out there. 

Loving the drawbridge
As I'm writing this post, I find that I don't have a lot of words to describe my experience at Dover Castle. I loved being in the place and looking around it. I enjoyed learning about its historical significance and standing at the top of the great tower, feeling the wind in my hair and reveling in the knowledge that I was in a medieval castle in England. But perhaps it was my dreams, my ideals, my hopes that really made the experience for me. It wasn't anything in particular that happened but simply my childhood dream fulfilled to one day be in a legitimate castle. That is what Tangled teaches, right? It is beautiful and good to have dreams and once one dream is fulfilled, to go out and find a new one. So perhaps the question now to be asked is do I really want a castle? Maybe I don't. Maybe I just wanted the experience of being in one. I just wanted a day to pretend that I lived there, that I was a princess, that I stood upon hundreds of years of history where royalty once also stood. Perhaps I just wanted to fulfill my dream. Now I can find a new dream.

Gazing out over the ramparts
So what will my new dream be? What are my hopes and dreams for life? Someday I'd like to be married and have a family. I know that I want to serve the Lord in all that I do. I have thought about getting involved in ministry in some way. I hope to pick a major and to find a job once I leave college. I hope to make friends that will last for years. I hope to settle down in a place that I enjoy and like, preferably out in the countryside. But what are my dreams? I don't really know. My family always teases me about my unrealistic dream of owning a pet Night Fury from the movie, How to Train Your Dragon. But as to real ones, I feel like I don't have any. Or perhaps I think that they should be big and grand and the smaller and more commonplace things that I truly long for aren't real "dreams". I honestly don't have a lot of ambition in life. I want to build authentic community, to dig deeply into relationships, to serve others in however the Lord calls, to learn all that I am able and to adventure wherever the Lord leads me. Are those dreams? Maybe they are. Maybe I need to redefine what I think the word, "dream", means.
Thank you for reading my more introspective post. My next one will be on Canterbury Cathedral on which I have plenty of thoughts and description.

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