Reevaluation is an important process, which everyone should periodically apply to their own lives. I am currently in the middle of reevaluating my decision-making paradigm. Time continues to pass and certain goals may have become unattainable, so what do I do with those dreams?
Life can be so perfidious! Usually by the time you get to high school, you know you’ll never be an astronaut, but some dreams still seem possible. You would think that these dreams wouldn’t end up being as crazy as wanting to be an astronaut when you grow up, but sometimes they do.
As you mature into adulthood, life becomes more about reality and less about dreams. You have to get a job so that you can pay the rent, pay off your loans, and buy groceries. You don’t have time to chase your dream of becoming an archaeologist. The point of intersection between dreams and reality is one of brutal mathematics.
Perhaps Don Quixote had it right by refusing to see the world as it is, but rather, as it should be. He lived an impossible dream and everyone thought he was a lunatic. But maybe, too much sanity is madness. I don't have any answers here, only questions. This is what I'm working through, slowly and painfully.
As I evaluate each ambition, hope, and dream, I must consider the value of each. A dream that inspires me to reach for the moon is worth much more than wanting to be a professional rodeo clown. Therefore, which do I keep trying to achieve, and which do I put out of their misery?
Maybe they are crazy, but I’m choosing to keep some dreams. More and more I may be euthanizing dreams, but I just can’t give up all of them. Dreams can give meaning and purpose to an otherwise empty and meandering life. Just because they aren’t practical, doesn’t mean they aren’t necessary.
Showing posts with label don quixote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label don quixote. Show all posts
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Impossible Dream
Published in 1605 and 1615, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes, is in my opinion, one of the greatest works of literature ever written. Commonly referred to simply as Don Quixote, it is the story of a country gentleman who apparently goes mad and decides to live as a knight. The ensuing adventures (or rather, misadventures) are both entertaining and inspiring, which is a rare combination.
My favorite adaptation of the tale is the Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha. The 1972 film disappoints me because Peter O’Toole simply cannot sing, although Sophia Loren’s performance is brilliant. The emphasis of this version is placed on Don Quixote’s relationship with Aldonza (or as he calls her, Dulcinea).
Cervantes tells his audience that he has known “men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing… their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning ‘Why?’ …why they had ever lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? … Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all—to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
Aldonza is a just a poor country maid, but Don Quixote sees her as she could be, as the Lady Dulcinea. He describes her as “at least a princess, since she is my queen… the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her… what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare.”
I love this story so much because again and again, when faced with brutal reality, the hero refuses to acknowledge despair. He repeatedly chooses to continue dreaming The Impossible Dream and persevere in The Quest. Everyone thinks he’s crazy—jousting with windmills, declaring shaving basins to be golden helmets, honoring a peasant girl as a great lady.
When confronted with the harsh insanity of the world, Don Quixote constantly reminds all of us to keep going, keep dreaming, keep trying. He knows that “if I'll only be true, To this glorious quest… The world will be better for this, That one man, scorned and covered with scars, Still strove with his last ounce of courage.”
Imagine what the world could be like if we all dreamed the same dream as Cervantes, seeing the world as it should be, rather than as it is. What if we actually tried to make it better? Even if we only changed the world for one person, each our own Dulcinea, it would be worth it.
My favorite adaptation of the tale is the Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha. The 1972 film disappoints me because Peter O’Toole simply cannot sing, although Sophia Loren’s performance is brilliant. The emphasis of this version is placed on Don Quixote’s relationship with Aldonza (or as he calls her, Dulcinea).
Cervantes tells his audience that he has known “men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing… their eyes, filled with confusion, questioning ‘Why?’ …why they had ever lived. When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? … Too much sanity may be madness! But maddest of all—to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
Aldonza is a just a poor country maid, but Don Quixote sees her as she could be, as the Lady Dulcinea. He describes her as “at least a princess, since she is my queen… the impossible and fanciful attributes of beauty which the poets apply to their ladies are verified in her… what modesty conceals from sight such, I think and imagine, as rational reflection can only extol, not compare.”
I love this story so much because again and again, when faced with brutal reality, the hero refuses to acknowledge despair. He repeatedly chooses to continue dreaming The Impossible Dream and persevere in The Quest. Everyone thinks he’s crazy—jousting with windmills, declaring shaving basins to be golden helmets, honoring a peasant girl as a great lady.
When confronted with the harsh insanity of the world, Don Quixote constantly reminds all of us to keep going, keep dreaming, keep trying. He knows that “if I'll only be true, To this glorious quest… The world will be better for this, That one man, scorned and covered with scars, Still strove with his last ounce of courage.”
Imagine what the world could be like if we all dreamed the same dream as Cervantes, seeing the world as it should be, rather than as it is. What if we actually tried to make it better? Even if we only changed the world for one person, each our own Dulcinea, it would be worth it.
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