a reason to hope

Right now I want to run barefooted on a rain-soaked ground, or look over my shoulder and see a pair of miraculous wings getting ready to fly.

I want to step on the moon and dance Jason Mraz's La Nueva Belleza there, paint a rainbow, speak 4 more languages, or hug a lion twice my size.

I long to enter in a world where fireflies welcome me with lights and songs, where a panda bear would stretch out its paw and walk with me, where the dancing Birds of Paradise would change its shape for me and just dance, dance, dance.

Right now, I could be at the Tianjin Olympic Stadium rocking with Chinese superstar Jay Zhou, not minding if I only understand a few words in his songs. Or, I could be in Naples, at Pizzeria de Michelle, savoring every bite of their heavenly thin-crusted pizza with extra, extra cheese.

Or I could be in Spain, in a classroom learning Spanish, por fabor, or in Thailand riding an elephant, or in Tibet raising my own prayer flags.

I want to see the world with its true beauty and explore its fullness, its freedom. Where I don't need to be rich to travel to Europe or America, where I don't have to be seen by my physical features but instead, knowing that I am far from perfect, would be seen with grace and mercy.

I want to see a world free from fear and bondage. A world where everyone has smiles on their faces, where people dance cha-cha with angels on street corners, or strangers hugging each other with thoughts of purity, brotherhood and goodness in their minds.

A world where love is not merely spoken but acted upon.

A world where the color of skin is not an issue, where language is bridge, not a wall. A world where people think of serving others and ask themselves, "how can I be a gift to this person? how can I be of help?

A world where there are no voices telling me who I am or who I am not.

I know, I am dreaming. For right now I am inside my room, writing this blog entry. The space hardly even fits an elephant, or if a lion twice my size visits it would be unable to come through the door.

I live in a world where fireflies would die of pollution, where panda bear is endangered and rare, or where running barefoot under the rain isn't freedom but insanity. The world can easily put you in a box and label you. The world can easily tell you what you cannot do. The world can kill your passion, your hopes and ambitions.

And yet my heart longs for something more than this world can offer. There are things to experience, places to go, freedom to be tasted, adventures to be excited about, provisions to be enjoyed. There are rainbows waiting to be chased, and stalagmites beautifying its form, and wild gardens, untouched by the failings of men, asking only that we enjoy the view they can offer and let them be.

I long for a world that may seem impossible for the here and now, yet, I have hope.

To hope for something, somehow, is a resting place, or a dream of the imagination, or could it be reality in a different spectrum? Possible.

Yet for me, there is always a reason to hope.

And so I smile, with thoughts of angels dancing cha-cha, and me flying. Up there where the birds soar. Up there where the skies are blue.