These People

My boss is fond of saying “These People!” I know it has an exclamation point. I know it’s at moments of general frustration – about the fella who backs in, bumper resting on the sign saying “Head-In Parking Only,” the gal who demands music at the pool after signing off on the regulations about use of headphones only there.

People are entirely entitled in a way I do not remember from before.

Tonight I talked with a woman who is searching for a place to relocate in NM. She wants a community of strong women, accepting of writers, knowledgeable of health conditions, aware & awake on spiritual levels. I told her where to go – a town with these exact attributes. At the end she simply faded from the conversation, her foggy “no” implicit in the shrinking realization that such a place exists. That it would take a powerful commitment to go there. That it has a name she does not recognize & thinks ridiculous. Hello?

It got me to thinking how frequently do we wish & then wave it away briskly when it manifests. I think Tinkerbell has retired to the West Coast & sits sipping fruit drinks, dipping her wings in the pool these days. Aladdin’s Genie is summiting Makalu in the Himalayas. It has to be frustrating to be the Grantor of Wishes in a world where wishing is so wishy-washy. A world where Wonder lumbers along the ground, foregoing flight.

I know about wishes: as often from startled hindsight as softened foresight. I understand being careful of them – there are many of mine left by the roadside along the experiential turnpike. Now that I’m more aware of them, more likely to search & capture them into the future file for delicious studious exploration, I even have more come true. They are Murano glass canes, Tiffany nightlights, plugged in & glowing. They are foglights in mist, cutting away that which obscures & defining that which clarifies identity.

Often, I reach into the treasure box to bring one up & check it for ripeness. The ones I will never use I release. The ones with potential I tuck back into wrappings & await maturity – theirs or mine.

Please let me never take these for granted! I can see how one wish outgrows another & must be accepted even it it does not fulfill every criterion. Maybe I need a list of Top Ten Wishes to focus on. I’m living so many now, perhaps just a Top Three would serve well.

Others have to dream their own dreams & find their own way, even as they ask for directions & I point earnestly West. What I know is that wishes can have a shelf life of only so long. Circumstances bring change, sometimes forcing it. A careful choosing brings great joy into being. Rejection hot-houses the next crop.

I can no more bring myself to stop dreaming than I can to stop wishing. Even so, I can lift any from storage, blow off the dust & enliven them.

Next, please! I’m ready!