on my favourite vacation and dream land ...

Who doesn't dream of that retirement view with a sandy beach, crystal sand on your toes and crystal water as we look at the ocean?; sitting on a hammock with a drink on the side? no worries, no responsibilities, nothing to think but to enjoy, you can add anything on top, a book, music, service, great food, a massage, anything your imagination can hold, all the way to arriving via helicopter or a private plane, jet skies, etc etc etc ... you get the point ... you might have seen it on a movie, or on some ad in a magazine or even closer in some friend's Facebook page lately. You might have actually enjoyed it already in your life during a vacation and dream and plan with going back to it. Is it possible to perpetuate it? realistic even? where do these dreams come from? because let's be honest most of us have them! can we really achieve them? are they so lofty that we should aim for them? or are they simply marketing strategies playing with our minds and desires?

Let me attempt to take all these apart and dissect the concept if I may because the sandy beach might not be every body's cup of tea to be honest; to some it might just be in the Mountains or in Africa, but I think there are commonalities to all of our dreams and I want to explore them; it seems to me that we all dream land vacationers want because I think there is an intrinsic value on these dreams something we all are longing it seems:

1. Peace and tranquility; to be free of any conflict.

2. No worries about any material needs; to be self-sufficient.

3. Enjoyment of every detail we choose, from the bed sheets to the drinks, the glassware, etc; joy.

4. No work at all.

All these should equal top of the world, fullness, accomplishment. Wait a minute! does it? Can it be even possible? even if it is in a dream? or for even some few months? Can we?

We live our lives (at least in North America) so we can try our best to have these momentary views of heavens at least 15 days of the year, the rest of them simply grinding to save for these perfect days it seems. Vacation time! what a great time! relaxed, worry free, for 15 days!! Could it be possible to prolong those days and live a life like that? let's see, let's try at least on paper; tag along with me and see our chances.

Let us imagine it, we will need services for sure, people to work around to provide the services we so want, the comforts, the music, the massages, even the books we would like to read; the delicious food we imagine, the clean rooms, the entertainment, all of these do require of others to provide it for us and money on our end, limitless amounts of it. This means that not all humans could have access to it 24/7/365 as some privileged ones would while others simply might just have to serve us, cater to us. But thats not fair nor will that make us feel good at the end of the day so let us make some changes; ok, let us start downsizing maybe in order to make it more accessible for us all. Fine, I won't use the masseuse, no problem, my better half will perform those duties and I will be her masseuse. I am a great cook so I volunteer to do the cooking freeing that poor cook I was going to hire; I suppose we can both (I say both because most often these dreams include a significant other, otherwise is not that good of a dream right?) can tide up the place by ourselves also. But ... what about the other resources? water, electricity, supplies and my favourite books? ok fine, we will then grow our own garden and chickens ..., hold on! even better, just the garden and become vegetarians, perfect! I don't have a green thumb but I am certain I can do some gardening, my grandpa was a farmer after all and I am sure she is ok with only veggies, after all raising animals is a lot of daily work; I will leave this one up to the reader to choose, on your own dream land you can grow anything you may how's that? and choose your diet too.

What about my books? can I be without them? thats just not fair! but I suppose for the sake of this dream I could do without them and simply will contemplate the ocean on the name of simple living and equality among other humans so we can all have our dreams; book authors I free you, you can also go live in your own dream land. 

What? do I have neighbours all of a sudden? how did that happen? yes, but of course, we all want the same dream after all, it simply makes sense they are here too, as they also saw the same movie and magazines. Well, so long as they don't infringe in our property and freedoms we are just fine to share the ocean I guess. Running water? I am not sure, I hope there is a river nearby at least with clean water; but of course there is! is that river with the big waterfall that falls right into the ocean making permanent rainbows we saw as we walked towards our dream property, no problem there, we have water, so long as no one starts polluting it we are good to go.

Oh how sweet this is ... hey! animals? really? can we all not be vegetarians? come on! I don't really need the sound of animals in the morning, no! out out out you go people with animals, my dream land is only for vegetarians, no animals allowed unless ... but of course we have pets, what good can a heaven be without pets, without dear loving Fido? thats right ... the problem is that we all have a Fido ... well I am still ok with sharing my dream beach and now I suppose I am ok with it being filled with puppies and all sorts of pets ... no! only dogs on my dream land, no other animals allowed, please. If you want another pet please go to the next dream land where they are allowed, not in mine. Let me make another caveat, I don't like crowds so I am going to limit my dream land to a certain number only, maybe 100 tops? and with lots of distance between neighbours. Don't get me wrong I love people but I am here to enjoy our peace not to socialize ok? so scoot, make room and maybe we can gather together often to socialize how's that?

Electricity and all that jazz? hmmm I guess we can do without it ... honey, honey? where are you? yikes, can we really be there without our phones and tablets? no internet, no electricity, no TV? ... well I'm ok with no TV, no problem, no lights though ... what's this? back to cave man days? I thought this was progress not regress, whatever I will do without electricity yet how will we get a hold of our loved ones? I will miss them after all. Ok I see! they are the neighbours! so I don't have to miss them when I have no phone or electricity; family! yay, no strangers but only family members; sure uncle Bob can also come, no problem, so long as he doesn't start creating havoc while drunk as usual deal?

Now we got it, place with no running water nor electricity yet family members around, no animals other than pets, peace (so long as uncle Bob respects it) tranquility, relaxing, not work ... wait a minute honey the plants didn't get watered today! nor has Fido been fed nor has the water supply been brought to our place today and it is getting dark. I thought we were on our dream land but it seems that work doesn't want to leave us alone.

Yup, work won't leave, not today, not tomorrow, so long as the universe exists we must keep working because it is a natural law that we will reap only what we sow, no way around it. Sorry dream land but work has to be done around here to still subsist. Someone I heard once said that real success was to learn to love to work as it is an eternal principle and only by learning to love, it is that we will start finding happiness.

Let me suggest that I know where this dream land is, where we can have all those things we talked about, and more, mainly:

1. Peace and tranquility even amongst conflict.

2. No worries about any material needs; to be self-sufficient.

3. Enjoyment of every fine detail, from the bed sheets to the drinks, the glassware, etc; even joy.

4. No work.

5. And I will add, books, access to knowledge, and running water and electricity as opposed to dream land.

Sounds better than dream land so far! and I swear to you it is accessible, ready for my sales pitch? got your wallet ready and credit card at hand?

As an old LDS hymn reads, Home can be a Heaven on Earth; yes I think you got it, it is right exactly where you are now, whether on that hill, or on that beach, whether on your apartment shared amongst 10 other family members or whether in that one where you live alone. That place you call home, that place is the one and only place where you will find those things we all so dream of, it is within our families that that real dream land exists, no we do not need to go that far nor spend lots of money and travel time to find it, it is right here where we are, the place to find all of our needs and dreams: peace, solace, comfort, free of worries, enjoyment and relaxation, happiness, joy; yes it is called home, it is called a family; and one more thing, the one missing ingredient it seems, work, yes at home there is no work, no, not because we don't do anything but because we have learned to love to do things for each other, meaning we don't work, but we rather serve each other in the name and for the sake of love, I cook, we clean, I love ironing all of our clothes due to my OCD, she loves folding our laundry because she is neat, we don't work, we simply serve each other, we love it, and no we haven't moved, we still live in the very same spot where I write this blog from. I can assure you of this, that there is no greater joy to be felt but within family and a home, I surely have not experienced greater joy in my life.

Next time you plan your dream vacation don't forget that it is right in your face, it is anywhere so long as your loved ones, your family, is there. I hope you can also find your dream land within your family walls because it is there, heaven is but an extension of a family life and any family can therefore be but a piece of Heaven on earth; Good trip!

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