Dreaming Impossible Dreams

Last weekend, I got to see an old musical I’d never caught before either live or on film–Man of La Mancha. Since it was a local production, and the music I knew from it struck me as rather cheesy, I was expecting it to be a pleasant evening, but I wasn’t expecting to be wowed.

Boy was I wrong.

While I’d always known the story of Don Quixote, it wasn’t until I saw the production that I realized the power of this quirky character’s idealism and vision in an ugly world, how he kept insisting, despite his faltering gait and halting voice, in a world of chivalry and castles and decency. And when he sang, To Dream the Impossible Dream, I could feel the audience riveted in their seats, reacting not so much to his powerful singing voice (which was nothing to discount) but to the urgency of holding onto creating your own vision of the world and working to make it happen, even if it might seem impossible.

We certainly need Don Quixote’s idealism if we look at the ugliness of the world today. How hard it is to stay active and true to the quest to creating a just and peaceful world. And on a more personal plane, to be a writer also feels like an impossible quest much of the time, yet we have to keep holding onto our visions and express them in the most effective way we possibly can, regardless of whether we achieve fame, recognition, or ridicule.