When Amy was 13, we took a cruise. That was 8 years ago. It was a wonderful trip.
Modern shipbuilding is miraculous to make it possible to construct such a floating palace. Whoever the chief design engineer is, I wonder if designing such a monster would ever give him any headache at one time. It is amazing that thousands of people, workers, entertainers, and passengers, are so nicely managed。 The logistics support is such a magnificent job!
Playing on the deck, enjoying the breeze under the sun, imagine merging yourself into sky or ocean, the way you touch nature from such a majestic engineering product, easily put people into the dreaming world.
Amy asked me what my dream would be. I told her that I did not have much dream except going back to work after the trip, or my dream would be for her to keep her own dream alive. I asked about her dream, she mentioned a toy, a big toy, it is a sail boat. Why a sail boat, I asked. She was saying that this big cruise ship was great but it was not under her control, therefore she felt passive and helpless. With a sail boat she would have the freedom to steer toward anywhere she wanted.
Well, that was a big dream to me, as for object volume, maintenance, or operating cost. I told her that when she grew up she could try to get this gift herself; it was beyond my capability or my willingness, not even a remote possibility. She never expected anything like that from me, she was just wondering about that herself.
Several years passed, she still did not have her own sail boat yet, of course; she has not even made her money yet, except the few dollars she made on campus part-time jobs. But her poverty did not prevent her from trying a tiny dream. Last year during the fall break, she sneaked to Miami Beach with her boy friend; they rent a sail boat for parasailing. Her friend was a little scared by the height; she was less scared, much like her early childhood wild personality. Although this was only a short trip it was a step close to her childhood dream.
As she is growing up, she became more realistic. She was not sure about that child dream anymore because one summer job already beat her up badly. Welcome to the reality world.
We all know that not all dreams are easy to fulfill, some dreams are probably ridiculous, but dreams can give people a sensation of hope and beauty. Just like many of us like arts or music, how useful can that be in terms of material value? Such non-material culture is hidden asset to people for its immeasurable artistic values. Likewise, dream is an art, and the dream art makes life beautiful. When you are optimistic, having a positive attitude at work or study, you will be more valuable to yourself and the world.
