Of Dreams and Minis

Sitting in London in the spring of 2011, thinking about my upcoming travels to the States, I decided I wanted to drive a Mini for the summer.

I’ve set up my life, for the time being anyway, to be divided between London, Tucson Arizona, and Montague Massachusetts.  London is where I’m stretched and challenged both personally and professionally; Arizona is where I have what remains of my birth family and where I play tennis; I own a home in Massachusetts that features pure well water, asparagus and blueberries growing in the garden, and lush beauty in which I can walk a mile and not see another soul.

For the summer of 2011, Montague was also where my Mini was!

For those who’ve never given themselves the pleasure, driving a Mini Cooper is just plain fun.  It’s fun to look at, fun to talk about with people, fun to watch zipping around a racetrack (which I did once, but that’s another story).

Why am I telling you this?  Because buying this Mini taught me something important about my dreams.

I suspect I’m like many people — I have a cool or wild idea, get all excited about it, then as I get closer to making it happen, I panic and throw up all kinds of road blocks, talk myself out of it, try to be practical, chastise myself for being a dreamer, procrastinate.  And there are many people around me who are happy to help me bring myself back down to earth with a bump.

The question I have to ask is, Why?

Why do I want to dream — what does it offer me?  Easy — spaciousness, creativity, spontaneity, fun, fulfillment, richness, possibility…

For the summer of 2011, it also brought me a Mini Cooper to drive, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  AND my dear friend and auto dealer Chris got me a good deal when I sold it on, so it didn’t cost me much more than the cost of renting a car for the summer.  What’s not to love?