Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The World is Yours.





STORYTIME: Travel with me to Imagination

There were once two girlfriends travelling together in a time before they had children. They were deliciously irresponsible, fliting around the world, two caravan-gypsies, sitting on this plane and that train. 
Today their train was going nowhere. Oh, they bought tickets to somewhere, but Singapore with its efficient-no gum on the pavements-tie your laces-mind your manners country somehow managed to have a train that was not running on schedule. Their train sat obstinately idle between two stations, rebelling from its clipped timetabled surroundings. Or waiting for another train to pass or a change of signal. Or perhaps it was waiting for the will to continue down the track.

Whatever.

The girls were not bothered. The destination was never the point anyway. They simply liked movement. And they had both been the Singapore zoo before.

So, there they sat, drinking in scenes outside the graffiti-free windows, shoving each other playfully and saying things like, "Wouldn't it be great if you could get a seat like this on the trains in Hong Kong?"
They both worked there slaving away behind bars... actually, that's not true. They both worked in Hong Kong loving most minutes of teaching at an international school. But carrying on a love/hate type affair with this city of people, people and more people. The city that never found cause to sleep or even bow its head in rest unless of course, you counted the napping-Chinese lucky enough to be sitting down on some form of public transport.

"If I were a queen we would both always get seats on the train," said the first girl.
"If you were queen?" The second girl laughed.
"Okay then, you can be a queen too. What would you do if the world was yours?"
"I am a queen and the whole world is mine?"
"Yep, the whole world." The first girl stretched her arms wide.
"Do I have to keep Hong Kong on the planet?" the second girl asked.
They both laughed at that one because without their city of taxis and dripping air conditioning systems they would never have found each other. And besides, deep down they loved Hong Kong.

"Seriously. What would you do if the world was yours?" the first girl asked again.

The train started moving sometime after. It must have. But neither of the girls noticed the clean streets going by. They were too busy re-planning the world. 
Whole systems of politics and organizations with steel teeth and large appetites were being destroyed. The starving were fed and the homeless were housed. Because naturally, the Hurting and Hopeless were top priority.

The two young queens dreamed in animated conversation. Lengthy dreams that would turn presidents grey with the weight of their expectations. 
Simple dreams where grass grew right down the middle of tree-lined streets and every man held the door open for every lady. If she wanted them too, of course. A world where roses in vases where mandatory and queuing in lines was completely banned.

And lastly, before they stepped off that Singapore train, they turned to each other and said, "We would always get a seat on the trains in Hong Kong."

They were queens after all.

What about you? Do you remember a time when you dreamed that the whole world was yours? Do you need to dream again?

BTW- True story. Ode to my girlfriend Michelle and all her fantastical questions :) Remember when we dreamed the world was ours?

24 comments:

  1. Sometimes I think the world would be better if i were in charge, but I know I would fail miserably in so many areas! It's a good thing I'm NOT in charge! I do have dreams for my own life. Isn't the dreaming a way to visualize and set some goals? I don't know, but I'm always dreaming. Now I need to focus and make the dreams come true! lol

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  2. I love these posts about dreaming big, Tabitha! I'm a huge dreamer. I would dream of a place where everything I said and wrote inspired others to be the best people they can be.

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  3. Oh TAB. The world IS yours. Truly.

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  4. In the words of Albus Dumbledore, "It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

    But I believe it goes both ways.

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  5. I've always been a big dreamer. This post was a reminder to let myself dream again. Thanks.

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  6. Tabitha, I loved this post--please do more like it! I'd definitely make roses in vases mandatory, too, because that's only right.

    I need to find more time to dream again, thank you for the reminder.

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  7. What a sweet post. :-) I've dreamed, but never that the world was mine.

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  8. I'm a dreamer. My dreams are smaller than the whole world though. I dream that I can make a difference and that my children can be happy.

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  9. I've always dreamed, but think today, I'll just be grateful for how things are.

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  10. Very, very nice, Tabitha.

    I'd lost that feeling for years. But then I started writing again, and it's coming back with every night of inspiration. Whoo!

    Beautiful post.

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  11. What a sweet story. You have me sitting on the train with you, dreaming along side you. I'm living a part of my dreams now, with a fairly clear path to even more.

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  12. Lovely story - as always, I adore the way you put me right there with you on the train. I'm a big dreamer. Sometimes I think I don't dream big enough at all anymore, and maybe have even quit, but then I will stand back and see that I'm doing my own kind of baby steps :)

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  13. Your writing is always fresh and vivid. Thanks for the little escape into the world you built in just a few sentences!

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  14. I usually fall asleep on a train ride, but now I'm wondering what's wrong with me.

    Isn't it amazing where our imaginations can take us!

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  15. My dreams have been renewed as of late. The dreaming is BIG and exciting and filled iwth hope!

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  16. I wouldn't want to be in charge of the world. No way Jose. But I am the queen of my life. It's the only way to live.

    What a sweet post. I remember having similar conversations with my little sister.

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  17. I just have to say that your writing is great. I find myself without a comment, even with your question, because I'm so busy chewing on how you wrote what you wrote...wonderful job.

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  18. Tabitha, this is a beautiful story! Beautiful dreaming. I dream much to much I'm afraid but I wouldn't change it :).

    I found you thanks to Kristen, although I have seen you here and there around the blogsphere. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to stop by!

    Have a marvelous week!
    Jen

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  19. nice post friend!!!!!

    please visit me back.....
    Culture of INdonesia

    thankz...

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  20. What a nice post. I, too, am a dreamer. :)

    There's something so special about old friends, isn't there? And new ones!

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  21. thanks to everyone who posted a comment. It has been one of those days and I chose to spend my limited time commenting on your blogs rather than commenting here. But know that I read them all and really appreciate the time you took to comment. I believe in BIG dreams. Why not? Who says small dreams are any more likely to come true than the big ones? :))

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  22. I try not to dream. I try to plan.

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  23. Everyday I dream. Donald Trump said,"If you gonna dream, you might as well dream big." I so agree with you Tabitha, small dreams are not more likely to come true than the bigger ones. I think some of us dream in what I call the Safe Zone. If it's small then it's more possible. Yes, that may be so but the bigger ones are doable too. Just have to take many smaller steps to get there. What a great story!

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