ohbloodyhell8

I am fortunate enough to have wonderful opportunities of fellowship with my church family.  This evening was our monthly get-together of the 20s-30s group of which I am a welcome interloper since I am neither in my 20s nor my 30s.  I wielded self-control of the tongue like Thor wields his mighty hammer.  Not that we can’t share and contribute to the conversation-that is one of the main hopes of the group, but my brain filled with so many personal connections to the topics that if I hadn’t demonstrated the self-control I would have seemed like an egocentric maniac.

Dreams…what’s your dream?  Part of our discussion this evening and a quote from Pretty Woman.  Dreams are such a part of life.  Songs are written about them, books are written about them, psychics will interpret your dreams from slumber.  One has a dream and that leads to a goal.  Then you work toward it in increments and often the goal is achieved and the dream is realized.  Sometimes not.   But still we dream.

The discussion turned to many topics this evening, but my brain has not finished working through them to share yet.  But there a few thoughts to jot down before memory allows them to slip away.

The idea of seeing something nice and then doing the same for someone else.  We knew it was from an insurance commercial but couldn’t recall which one.  I saw it tonight when I turned on the television.  Liberty Mutual.  How often do you do that?  Not watch the insurance commercial, but spread a little sunshine.  It is one of the simplest ways to share kindness and make the world a wee bit friendlier.

We also talked about the image of the “good hands”.  We’ve discussed that image before in relationship to ways we may picture God.  I do like the image of God’s large hands keeping me safe-truly the good hands. Good hands there to comfort you in sadness, cheer with you in times of accomplishment, pray with you in times of questioning.  But we also mentioned Allstate.

Is this group obsessed with insurance?  No.  But insurance companies play upon the craving for safety that is a part of the human existence.  The first two levels of Maslow’s hierarchy deal with safety.  We crave it.  We don’t aspire to the “fun” stuff like dreams and aspirations until we have satisfied our need for safety.  Once those aspects of life are secured (or at least as secured as those things can be), then we can jump in with both feet running toward our dreams.

It was fun to think about Maslow.  I also got to think about Vygotsky tonight.  It was discussed that growth comes from frustration or challenges.  Hee hee…the inner geek in me thought about the zone of proximal development.  One of my favorite theories that I love learning about.  The exploration of its application in my life and life in general frequently fills my mind.  I love the opportunities presented to me to be the more knowledgeable other (MKO).  But even more exciting is when I’m in the zone and I find the more knowledgeable other in the most random of places.  Many times the MKO is easy to find.  If I have to figure out the increase in percentages, I go to my boss and we think it through together (she’s stronger in math than me…the MKO).  If I need to hang something straight, I turn to my hubby because I have no sense of depth perception and hang everything crooked (though it looks great to me!).  I seek guidance from my husband, my pastor, my folks, my friends, but sometimes the guidance I need comes from my sons.  Or someplace or someone I cannot even guess.

Tonight I will slumber and most likely dream.  Perhaps one of those dreams will lead to a dream for my waking hours.  I think people have better days with a dream in their minds.  Dreams speak of future, of possibilities, of hope.  And as Uncle Stevie had Andy Dufresne say, “hope is a good thing.”