Genre: Broadway MusicalArtist: Lyrics and music by Joe Darion and Mitch Leigh
Album: Man of La Mancha
I really like the Padre's reflection on dreams. Before we build our lives on dreams, we must remember that a man holding a moonbeam is really not holding onto anything. And yet, the Padre does not condemn dreaming. He concludes that life would be wonderful if every person was capable of dreaming. In the midst of people condemning and mocking Don Quixote for his dreams, the Padre remains calm and sees the goodness of the life that Don Quixote leads.
I have lived the cycle of the dreamer multiple times. This is the cycle:
1. A person has a dream
2. The dreamer tries to live the dream
3. The dreamer is mocked by unbelievers, people afraid to live their own dreams
4. The dreamer faces a huge obstacle, possibly fails somehow
5. The dreamer gets discouraged and considers giving up
6. The dreamer experiences a moment of reflection and self-discovery
7. The dreamer regains determination and strives to live the dream again
8. The dreamer succeeds and the dream is realized
Steps 3-7 can be repeated multiple times. There are constantly people that make fun of me and my ideas. There are times when I have given up dreaming because I get too discouraged. I hate feeling like I have no dreams left to live.
What I need to remember is that dreaming is not bad. So what if my life is built on dreams? They keep me from despair. They keep me fighting. They give me a will to live. More than that, my dreams are not empty. By fighting to fulill them, I will make them meaningful and I will accomplish many things. I am a dreamer. It defines who I am. So I will keep on dreaming.
