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The right to dream
Apart from the dream that everyone has? - Alex asks again.
We laugh.
The night has already swept the last crumbs of evening light from the living room, and the room has quietly plunged into semi-darkness. I'm sitting across from an old friend of mine who is bringing another “steel horse” to Ukraine for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This time, his route is through Frankfurt, which I am very happy about.
– Cruise, Alex says.
- A cruise? - I'm surprised. That is, a large floating “all-inclusive” facility packed with pensioners, with no chance of leaving?
– That's the whole point! - He watches my expression of total incomprehension and explains: - Three, or better yet, four weeks. Somewhere in the Caribbean. No connection, no internet, in complete peace. But this dream is not about a cruise. It's about freedom, when I can afford not to think about work, because my business will work without me. This means that I have done everything right.
I nod my head. It's a nice dream. Not easy, but achievable. It is dreams like this that give us the motivation to get up in the morning and do something. I'm a little jealous. I don't have one of those. Not yet.
And then a chill pierces me. Is it a draft? Or maybe it's from within? What am I dreaming about anyway? I don't remember. I definitely dreamed as a child: vividly, about funny little things. At the time, of course, they seemed wow! I dreamed about something when I was a student - I don't remember what, but it was definitely about something global. Even when I was quarantined with the rest of the world a few years ago, I had a few mundane dreams. And since the beginning of 2022, dreams have somehow faded into the background, giving way to an endless cycle of “must-do”.
Do I even have the right to dream in these times? My homeland is fighting for its existence. My people are fighting for a place on this planet. Some people lose everything in an instant. And I'm here, two thousand kilometres away from this turmoil, in comfort and safety. Do I have the right to waste myself on a dream? The sudden feeling of “survivor's syndrome” makes me a little uncomfortable. Who has the right to dream now? If there are such people, what is acceptable to dream about (apparently, cherishing “the same dream as everyone else” is accessible to everyone, it is ethical, it does not require explanation). But what about other dreams - dreams that are for yourself, like in childhood?
The guys and girls on the frontline are deliberately risking their lives, becoming a brick in the wall that separates the rest of the world from hell. No doubt they have earned their right to dream. But what about those who are far from the frontline? For example, military logisticians or aircraft mechanics. Perhaps they are also allowed to dream? And what about those who have already been demobilised? Do they still have this right?
Probably more volunteers. “Ants” who carry much more than their own weight to the front. They go into debt, “because they need to buy something, the wards asked for it, and the collection is stalled”. They do not see their families for days and sometimes weeks. They teeter on the brink of dismissal because they are absent from work more than they work. But a volunteer can only deliver as much as the fees are enough. And there are always those who will lend a shoulder and unexpectedly ask how much money is missing. This kind person, who will never call himself a volunteer out loud, will most likely live even more modestly than usual, but it is thanks to such people that the volunteer movement continues to live on in the eleventh year of the war.
This is where the question arises: is a dream a privilege that needs to be earned, or is it just a defence mechanism of our consciousness, a kind of “bomb shelter for the soul”? Or is it something that does not allow us to give up? I, for one, don't know of a better motivator to keep living than to pursue a dream. Anything else - willpower, habits, necessity, a sense of duty - also works, but not for long. Their power can carry us through difficult times, but they cannot move us forward all the time. And then we need a dream. Not as a right, not as a privilege, but as a tool for survival. For every single person. Of a nation. Of the country. We need this driving force as a weapon. Not to use weapons to defend yourself, your family, your country is stupidity and betrayal. Then it turns out that dreaming is our duty.
It doesn't matter whether it is small, trivial and purely for yourself, or on a cosmic scale, for the whole of humanity. This dream should carry you into the future and give you strength.
Back in 2020, we were travelling around Ukraine and stopped in Kamianets-Podilskyi. It was July, it was hot, and there was a cafe near the town hall. On the terrace of the cafe, there is a stump with the inscription “Stump of Desires” and a hammer. Next to it is an instruction: “Make a wish and hammer a nail into the stump. For a dream without action is worthless.”
Dream. Act. This is our duty.
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