Thoreau-osaurus

 

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!

Live the life you have imagined.

~ Henry David Thoreau

Whenever I see this Thoreau quote, I always think of dinosaurs.

You see, when my son was in kindergarten, his class created a special quilt for the school auction. The students were given the demanding task of gooping up their hands with paint and squishing them onto fabric, while the quilter handled the sharp and deadly implements — needle, thread, and whatnot.

Unfortunately, my son was out sick on the grand gooping day. And by the time the quilter returned two weeks later, she had forgotten which hand was needed for the project. Only when she was piecing it all together did she realize that one little dinosaur would be facing the wrong way.

I’m sure her immediate reaction was “Oh carp!” or some such. But being a true artist, she embraced the “flaw” and even dubbed the final masterpiece “Marching to the Beat of a Different Dinosaur.”

A couple of days before the auction, she brought the finished quilt to school and showed the kids the awesome work of art “they” had created.

My son was quick to point out his handprint to me.

I told him it was adorable, of course, and then asked him if there was anything “different” about his dinosaur.

“Well, YEAH (as in Duh, Mom) —

It’s the only one going the RIGHT way!”

As you can tell by the little green dino pictured above — he was NOT referring to literal direction.

HIS way was the RIGHT way.

Ah, the unshakable self-assurance of 5-year-old boys!

And isn't that EXACTLY the kind of confidence we all need to heed Thoreau’s advice?

Especially when it comes to pursuing our art — we need to follow the call of our hearts and KNOW that OUR way is the RIGHT way.

Because when it comes to our dreams, we are actually the only ones who know which way to go.

And we need to trust that…

even when all the other dinosaurs are marching in the other direction.

Heck, they’re probably headed for the tar pits anyway.

By the way, the day that the quilter brought the kindergarten masterpiece to school, she actually pulled me aside and apologized for getting my son’s handprint wrong.

Was she kidding?

This was THE GREATEST QUILT EVER!!!

So, of course, I went to the school auction.

Yeah, it was the MOST money I have EVER spent on patchwork…

But it was worth every penny.

PROMPT: Dare to dream this week! What is the life you imagine? Then take a step — even if it’s just a tiny one — in YOUR direction.