Introspection

I mentioned in my previous post that two weeks ago Jill visited my stompin' ground here in the midwest. Part of our festivities included a visit to the famed St. Louis arch. Before we made the journey to the top of the arch, we decided to watch a short documentary about the building of the monument. We bought our tickets and made our way to the theater.

Waiting at the door to the theater was a middle-aged man outfitted in his dapper park-ranger uniform with stiff hat and all. He pleasantly greeted us, asking how we were enjoying our morning. I offered the cordial but slightly reticent programed response: "we are well. And you?"

I later made light of his response to this question. He quickly and brightly responded, "I'm livin' the dream!"

Perhaps the fact that I found this response so humorous and even shameful speaks a bit of my own insecurities. My initial thought was, "Wow, you need to dream a bit bigger buddy... here you are in the latter years of your career stamping movie tickets while wearing a goofy outfit and you claim you are 'living [your] dream' ?"

Later in the trip an encounter with another gentleman helped me think a bit differently about this response. In Chicago, we toured the city on a boat - floating out on Lake Michigan, then up the Chicago River. For the duration of the hour and a half tour, the guide (also middle-aged and dressed a bit strangely - although this time it was a skipper's outfit) educated us regarding the history and architecture of this thriving city. The tour was fascinating and enjoyable. At the conclusion of our boat ride, the guide thanked us for joining him and said, "As you can tell, I love my job. I hope you all enjoyed it too."

Lesson learned: Dreams are not some great and imaginary end, rather there is so much immediately and presently surrounding me which can fulfill beyond what I can ever possibly dream.