Go Big or Go Home

If you know me even a little, you're aware of ... let's just call it my fascination with Ireland and everything Irish. I am so incredibly awed by their culture, their traditions, their people, everything. It is my ultimate dream to spend some time on this wonderful island and just the thought of standing at the edge (or rather: close to) of the Cliffs of Moher is already making me tear up. You'll notice that the background of this blog is actually a picture of those cliffs. Imagine my excitement and the amount of tears present when I'm actually there! When I get excited about something,  I get EXCITED about it! I read up on it, everything that has those words in it catches my eye, and I will not stop being excited about this until my heart says so.

But there's a problem with this picture. Not one that I can see but one that others see in it. And this one question always comes up, guaranteed:

"Why Ireland? That'd odd/weird." Confused looks follow. A couple of sneers. Some snide remarks. A few mocking words.

To this day I don't understand people's reactions as much as they don't understand my dreams aparently. I actually find it very insulting most of the time. Something that is very dear to my heart has just been shared with you and your idea of a response is mockery?

You know what I have seen in church culture nowadays? Everybody is supposed to live the same. Same old, generic lives. Grow up in a Christian home, get a Christian education, start courting, get married, have 2.1 kids, husband works in either ministry or an office job, and the wife does the same or she stays home, work until you're retired and that's it. Do some Christian stuff on the side lines such as going to the soup kitchen once in a blue moon, and one grande vacation with the kids once a year. Yeeeaaah. That's the LIFE! Yes? No?

Alrighty, so maybe this isn't how most families do life but it sure seems that way. Why else would I get so much scrutiny for daring to dream big? Hasn't the motto always been "Go Big or Go Home"? Correct me if I'm wrong but my impression of God is that he's a pretty big dreamer.

What I'm saying is that a lot of times I feel like I have to justify my dreams to others. "There must be a reason why you love this country so much!" Why? Why does there have to be one? Can't I just appreciate something without having to defend my right to appreciate it? Just let me appreciate it, ok? If you want to learn knitting, if you are in love with the nation of Tuvalu (and yes, I google searched "obscure countries" for this one), if you want to learn Klingon, if you are madly in love with collecting receipts from every town you visit and it brings you joy, why would I ever question that? Why would I mock you for it? Why on EARTH would I somehow think to myself that this is a stupid thing to do or a waste of time? Especially as friends, I think you ought to support each other in your dreams and passions. That is what friendship is. I have a few friends who jokingly mock me about this because every time I see something that has the words "Irish" or "Ireland" on it, it's like a million little butterflies just spontaneously hatched inside my stomach. So they laugh it off. But I also know that those people genuinely want to see me living out this dream because they care and they have something they're passionate about which I, in turn, support. They know what it's like to love something unconditionally. They know what it feels like.

Look, God has put things into our lives to enjoy. I know! Big shocker, right? Whaaaat? God wants me to enjoy things?
Absolutely.
He created this world so that we would maintain and enjoy it. When He looked at the Cliffs of Moher He knew exactly that someday, I would come along and completely fall in love with them. And He wants me to. He wants me to be passionate about something.

Without passion, we are just empty shells, doing empty work, which produces empty results. Sure, you'll get results but they'll mean nothing to you.
Where has the passion gone? Why don't people get excited anymore? Passion has so much disappeared from this world that some literally think I'm insane for embracing it.

Whenever I think of this, I think of Rapunzel in Tangled and the big musical number in the tavern/pub called The Snuggly Duckling (it's quite the hilarious song). You hear all these big and scary men expressing their dreams and at first you're like "You want to do WHAT?" but as you look closer, there's a child behind each one of those faces, dreaming.

One of the things that actually keeps me sane and hopeful is that, one day I get to enjoy the wind greeting my face and making its way through my hair while I stand at the edge of those cliffs, closing my eyes, and taking in God's beauty. I can hear the waves violently crashing against the bottom and then softly retreating back to the sea. The sun is setting, coating the landscape in its usual, golden self while the seagulls are preparing for the day to end. This is freedom.

True freedom lets you have dreams and passions. As long as you have nothing you are passionate about, I don't think you're allowing yourself to be completely free.

Next time someone tells you about their dream, whether you think of it as obscure or not, embrace it with them because they're investing in something. Then share your own passions with them. One of the most wonderful thing about talking to people is seeing their eyes light up when they talk about their dreams. It's proof that we were created in God's image.

Daring to dream big.