Dance on the Tightrope

There is the dream.  The one that fills you up and makes you giggle with its audacity.  There are breathtaking vistas at dawn and butterflies emerging from their cocoons.  There are the lists and chores that had blunted your soul with their monotony,

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which are now reassembling themselves into creations that make you gasp at their possibilities.  And finally there’s the new, more expansive interpretation of your life that wraps balloons around your hopes and helps them dance with the angels.

Then there’s your cable bill.  The one that’s $40.00 more than you expected because Comcast, evil, evil Comcast neglected to prorate it for your downgrade.  And then there’s the trying-to-be-encouraging but really actually heart-breaking thanks-but-no-thanks email you got about your proposal this afternoon.  And finally there’s the call with your Mom during which, she tells you about your cousin Tricia, ass-itchingly perfect Tricia who, “just started a new pottery business, and it’s going so well, and perhaps you two should put your heads together, maybe Tricia can share a few tips with you now that you’re both entrepreneurs . . .”

And in between those two paragraphs, is your life – a tightrope.  Tethered to the ground by daily obligations and physical limitations and soaring into the sky, pulled taut by daring aspirations and delightful visualizations.  If you allow your day to be organized solely by “can’ts” and “shoulds,” you lose the vibrant pulsing of a life stretched full by hope. If you only see your dreams, you’ll fly away, floating aimlessly above a “real” life, waiting to be lived with sensual relish.
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So what to do?  Throw your arms wide and dance on the tension that exists in between.  Even if you’re baffled by how you’ll make your mortgage payment, don’t give up on writing your first novel.  And even if your hopes are fizzing in your head like champagne, don’t forget to clean your cat’s litter boxes.  You just might find that in the struggle of trying to make ends meet, there is a touching story of someone trying to make a home.  Or it’s possible that as you grasp for your dreams’ embrace each night, you are soothed by knowledge that all your dishes are clean.