The Simplest of Dreams

I have this perfect moment in my mind: we are sitting together in nature, my love of life and I. On our colorful picnic blanket, if we did remember to bring it. We ate the snack or meal we had made and brought to our impromptu outing. I am reading a good book or writing in my precious journal. She is too.

She comes and rests her head on my thigh, lying down for a nap or just to look up at the trees. Maybe I play with her hair or firmly hold her arm while she lets her mind wander like the squirrels jumping from branch to branch in search of something. Only they know what.

This future memory warms my heart tremendously. It makes me feel all sorts of wonderful emotions, from love to lust, although there is nothing overtly sensual about this beautiful moment. Maybe that is what love is: longing for the simple presence of the other in a peaceful moment yet to come. You do not even need to talk, as you have a shared understanding in this moment.

In the movie Eat Pray Love (2010), there is a scene early on when Elizabeth is dating David, the actor. They sit on the floor in a living room, in front of a fire, I think. David is sitting so stiffly on the floor that it is comical. It feels like this lack of souplesse translates into a lack of closeness. It already shows then and there that those characters are not meant for each other.A trip to Italy and Bali would probably not fix my posture nor my soul. In my article Do Not Follow Your Dreams, I encourage myself (and my readers) to pursue what excites them day to day. For me, right now, that is the quiet, unscripted reality of sitting still and comfortable in my body and my relationship.

I do not know where this comes from, this romantic vision of sitting on the floor. Maybe I associate it with meditation and peace of mind. Or maybe it is stripping the situation of everything material and just letting our souls meet. Be comfortable with the loud silence of nature, warmed by the sun and our feelings for each other. In peace. Lazing on a sunny afternoon. In the summertime.

I guess I miss summer; I cannot wait for the rain and snow to stop so I can make new, beautiful memories with the love of my life.

Some people prepare their beach body all winter; I am just trying to become more souple. I want to be able to sit cross-legged on the picnic blanket in my dream and live that moment. This is my version of the winter grind, for an audience of one on a colorful blanket under leafy green trees and the sun.

Prove that youth can start in your thirties. It is not because I was never able to sit like that that, through patience and effort, I cannot achieve it now. Be young and feel cool. It is never too late to live your dreams, and it is not the size of the dream that gives it meaning. This one can and will be realized here and across the world. İnşallah.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.