An Unorthodox Building Material

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Let’s build a house of dreams.

I know, you think it’s impossible. Dreams are too insubstantial, you say, for building material. What is a dream, when compared to a plexiglass window or a wooden floor? A dream is too flimsy, too soft, too yielding. Dreams are better for bedding, or upholstery, or stuffed-animal filling. Not for houses.

And it’s true, some dreams are better suited to these softer pursuits. Once the house is built, we can use these flimsy, fluffy dreams for the interior decorating. After all, why buy bedding at Ikea when we can make it ourselves? Dream-bedding is more comfortable anyways.

But we’re not making bedding right now. We’re building a house.

So bring me the dreams that you’ve kept since childhood, the dreams you haven’t admitted to anyone, the dreams that seemed too big to be allowed. They’ll make the foundation of our house nice and strong. Bring me the dreams that you created when you were older, the dreams that were informed by both practical restraint and by hope. They’ll lay down the floorboards, and they’ll be stable and smooth. Give me the dreams you have while half-asleep, the dreams of bright futures and grand adventures. They’ll be the walls, and they’ll reach to the sky. Give me the dreams you clutch to yourself on a rainy day, the well-worn dreams you take out and examine when you need comfort. These will form the roof, and they’ll protect us from wind and rain.

Finally, give me the dream you keep locked in your heart, the one you are afraid to speak for fear it may never come true, the one you’ve never given to a falling star because it seemed too precious to trust to the vagaries of gravity and small flaming space-rocks. This dream will be the door, and it will only let in people who we truly love.

See? It’s a sturdy house, after all. It will stand the test of time, I promise you.

…Ok, fine. We can get the bedding at Ikea, if you insist. But are you sure you don’t have a few more dreams in your pockets? Up your sleeves? Under your tongue?

After all, dreams have a habit of hiding in plain sight.