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April 10, 2006
Of Wishes and Kisses
By Manuela Perez-Samson
"MANY of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing."
I didn’t say that; a wiser man than I did, and his name is Alexander Woolcott. I wonder if he ever did put this bit of wisdom to full use, stopped spending his time on wishing for things he could have and eventually started to get around to doing something so he could actually have them.
So many of us dream so many dreams, but sadly, stop right there, just with the dreaming, content with spinning castles in the air, making plans that are never put into execution or implementation. There’s this song Rod Stewart sings with such gusto, such a lilt in his voice and a twinkle in those mischievous eyes. "Give me a kiss to build a dream on..." he sings, gesturing with his hand, making powerful body language, smiling with his eyes, looking at you as though he was singing only to you. Making you feel that indeed, with just one kiss, you can build a thousand dreams.
But then, there’s the rub, as Shakespeare was so fond of saying. Here’s the thing, as Becker’s not-too-bright girl Friday points out when she tries to explain herself out of an impossible situation she’d gotten herself into... "Do something!" is what they’re really saying. Don’t just lie there dreaming. For starters, get up and make your bed, don’t wait for the maid to do it. Then march off to the bathroom, wash the sleep away from your eyes and the sluggishness out of your body and voila! You’re ready to face the morning and do something to make an impossible dream possible. But wait, is it morning still, or has the sun already made a half turn on its journey towards nightfall? Well alright, tomorrow you can resolve to get up earlier. There’s always a first time, right?
YUP, it’s summertime once again. Officially it has started, according to one television commercial about the summer wind (or is it rain?) playing havoc with one’s hair and how a certain product can magically restore it to perfection -- the hair, that is. And there are the sweet young things parading around the beaches in their skimpy two-piece swimsuits, their belly buttons exposed to sun, sea and sky, not to mention a million pairs of male eyes. Perfect scenario, yes, but who wants perfection when the winds of summer, sea breezes, blue skies, the dazzling sun -- are all here to remind you that it’s wonderful to be alive, to be young, to conquer new worlds or improve on old ones, to feel the power of life in the fiber of your being?
Can summer do all the above for you? Indeed it can, if you are all of the above, or even if you’re not. Summer is a magical season, as you must know by now, whatever age you might be, so long as you can feel the sun warm on your body, the wind cool on your face, the blueness of sea and sky a delight to your vision.
’TIS the Lenten season as I write this, and soon enough it will be Holy Week -- those seven solemn days observed by Catholics the world over, with its mounting passion towards Good Friday, and its culminating joy at Easter. It’s a week of quiet, almost lethargic moods, meditation, reflection, especially for those who, traditionally, follow the rites and rituals of the Church. It is also, or should be, for all of us, a week of hope and salvation that ends in the glory and joy of resurrection. Easter Sunday -- a beginning, a new life. Time to put your grief behind you, time to make wishes come true, turn your dreams into reality.
May your Easter be truly blessed!
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