I’ve been going around the house whistling and humming all evening – mostly tunes from South Pacific, because I’ll be playing keyboards for the show when it goes up at Franklin High School later on this month. The songs from this show are all familiar, and catchy – the kind that lodge in your inner ear and keep repeating in your mind like a computer on endless loop.
But Rodgers and Hammerstein’s composing skills aren’t the main reason I’ve been singing around the house tonight.
Mostly, it’s because I’m happy.
I’m happy because I got to spend some time pursuing my dream this afternoon. Well, one of them, anyway. They one that let’s me play the piano and make music with other people.
Its not really a big dream, at least not anymore. Oh, I suppose I might once have harbored fairy tale like visions of walking onto the world’s famous stages and pounding away at Beethoven’s Emperor concerto on a nine foot Bosendörfer grand. Nowadays, I’m satisfied to sit down for a few hours at my own beloved Kimball and play away. I’m even happier if I have something to work toward – like a choral competition to accompany, or a musical performance. This month I have both, an embarrassment of riches for someone who has curtailed her musical ‘”gigs” in favor of more hours behind the other keyboard (the computer!) in her office. The one that actually earns real money.
I’ve come to the conclusion that dreams don’t necessarily need to be huge to be satisfying. If you become fixated on some magnificent big dream, you might miss out on the opportunity to savor a very rewarding portion of it in real life. Chances are, I’ll never play a nine foot Bosendorfer on the stage at Carnegie Hall. But I can still sink my ten fingers into the sweet resistance of 88 ivories, still hear the melody and harmony that issues forth, still race up and down the keyboard with reckless abandon.
So I’m living the dream after all.
How about you? Are you living any of your dreams, in a big or small way?
~ for Sunday Scribblings
Becca's Byline 
Dreams are dreams, but if you can live them, well good for you.
Oh, the South Pacific songs are so much fun. Have fun at the show! And you’re absolutely right that dreams don’t have to be huge to be satisfying and meaningful. 🙂
Amazing! Houston’s Theater Under the Stars is doing a production March 9-21, with the largest orchestra ever used in a touring production and all the glitz and glam they’re capable of – which is considerable.
South Pacific was one of the first albums I heard on my folks first “stereo”. You’re probably not old enough to remember the excitement of listening to recordings of ping-pong balls “bouncing” from one speaker to another.
When I sailed from Hawaii to Alaska, we anchored for a couple of days off Coconut Beach in Kauai. I’ve been to the place there where the scenes for Bloody Mary’s were filmed – what fun to remember them!
Oh! I got so excited about South Pacific I forgot your question. I AM living a dream – people keep nudging, saying, “You ought to publish”. I tell them I am publishing, and having a whee of a good time doing so. I get to talk with my readers, which is a joy often denied people who spend most of their time talking to editors and agents.
There’s nothing wrong at all with wanting to be “published”, but I’ve had enough of a taste of it now to know that I don’t want to spend my remaining years chasing that particular dream. I might give it a go sometime, but blogging has some very real rewards.
It has occurred to me, recently, in the midst of the madness, that I am actually living my dream. It really is found in the daily living rather than in some designated “prize.
I’m happy that you’ll be able to play. I wish that I had understood the wisdom of small dreams when I was young. It’s so freeing.
Dreams don’t have to be huge to be satisfying. Oh, that’s a good thing to realize — we all need to remember it! I was in a production of South Pacific once, and it’s coming to East Lansing shortly. Lovely show.
It’s wonderful that you get to do the thing you love. I think I do, too. And it always surprises me! I live dreams every day — and it sure beats the alternatives!
Very wise, Becca. I find that now my dreams aren’t for myself so much as for my child. With her life opening up & new opportunities presenting themselves, I’m hopeful that she will be able to live her dreams…
I’m glad that you are playing again; who doesn’t love South Pacific?
I stopped by and read this last night. Wonderful thoughts, Becca. I’m so glad that you enjoy your music, and I’m sure that you’ve brought joy to others with it.
Living the dream is all about daily life after all, isn’t it? I think the key is having the courage to live the life you want and the wisdom to recognize it when you have it. I enjoyed this very much.
Bella
There’s such great wisdom in realising that happiness doesn’t come from big spectacular goals, but from small day-to-day actions