Cottonwood fluff blowing in the wind..

It makes me think of Dandelion wish flowers. A child closing their eyes tightly making their wish as they blow the fluff into the air. An innocent desire released into the universe. A hope from the heart let loose to the world. When I see cottonwood fluff it reminds me of this dandelion ritual. Sometimes when we grow into adults we forget that we can still hope. We can still dream and experience the joys that our hearts knew as children. Sometimes we need to just let loose of everything else, close our eyes and wish. The result that we want isn’t always what we end up with, but the act of actually hoping opens us up to an appreciation of what can be.

As a child I closed my eyes and wished for a pony a million times plus . I never got one and probably never will, but I’ll never forgotten the fun of wishing. I can still visualize my Mom and me giggling after blowing every little particle of those seeds into the air. She never said my wishes wouldn’t come true. She just encouraged me to wish. I can’t believe that people actually poison dandelions. I love a beautiful lawn but would rather see an occasional weed, especially when they remind me to wish. I guess they are only a weed if you view them as such. I view them as a reminder that I should still hope and dream with the enthusiasm of a child. I try to remind myself that all of the weeds in life can be a reminder to chose whether to view them as an opportunity or as a nuisance.

I don’t know if I’d want a pony today if I could have one. To me the beauty of the wish is not necessarily it’s fruition, but instead just opening your heart wide enough to hope beyond the disappointment of the wish not being fulfilled. The reaching beyond what you think you “should” want to what your heart really desires. There is a freedom from worrying whether you will get your desired result. In the brief moment of sending out the wish, experiencing the desire is a reward in and of itself.

One of the best things that I think the Haynesville shale has done is reignite so many forgotten or pushed away dreams. It may turn out that the shale won’t be the manna from heaven to make those dreams come true. If the thought of the Haynesville shale did nothing other than to remind us all to dream and hope then it has already been a blessing. Life is too short to let go of dreaming and wishing. Grab a hold of those wishes and find another way to make them come true. Find what truly makes you happy and chase after it with all your heart.