Living in the "real" world......

"Why don't you get a real job!

"Hey, stop dreaming, we live in the real world!"

"What......, you're gonna dance, be real!!"

"Face it, we all have to have real jobs, because we all have real bills to pay."

So, then exactly what is the "real" world one may wonder.

First, let's define "real".

Real= actual, nominal, factual, fixed, permanent,to mention a few.

      (Middle english (as a legal term meaning 'relating to things, especially real property'): from Anglo-Norman French, from late Latin realis, from Latin res 'thing'.)

We use the term in many everyday phrases:

"This is not a game, this is for real."

"Lower the taxes? Get real!"

"This is pittance, what we need is real money"

"You think you know what pain is, try pushing out a human being through your private parts, now that's real pain."

Is being "real" necessarily a more beneficial, useful, or advantageous position?

"Depends, you may say, if you want a roof over your head and food on the table."  Fair enough, those things are important issues, I just wonder if being real has to exclude having dreams, after all isn't it the dreamers that show us the paths to new, real, possibilities?  As children we often want to become Superheroes, Movie stars, Pop stars, Important sports figures, etc. I don't think I have ever heard a child say he/she wants to become an accountant  when he/she grows up. (Not that there is anything wrong with being an accountant...:)  A child who enjoys drawing/painting is generally encouraged whether displaying an obvious talent or not, a child who likes to move/dance to music is encouraged, a child who likes singing is encouraged, a child who likes reading and writing is encouraged, but at a certain age if there are no obvious signs of talent, and sometimes even if there is obvious talent, the child is often discouraged and redirected in his/her interests. In the real world there are more job opportunities for accountants than superheroes, artists, or people good at doing stuff with balls. Although, if one is lucky and talented, an artist or someone good at sports, can earn more money in a week than ten accountants in a month, but is money necessarily the best way to measure success?

Is it not possible to be poor extrinsically and rich intrinsically? Richard Hills writes: "There is no victory in the stuff of life. There is only victory in the love of life, for without the love of life, the stuff of life is not worth fighting for."

If the "real" world is a world in which we do what we have to do, not because we desire to, is the "unreal" world the opposite? In an "unreal" world, do we do what we want/desire to do?

"That's not a possibility in the "real" world............we can't all be "dreamers" someone has to make sure the wheels turn."

This leads me to ponder what a "dreamer" is. Often the term has a negative connotation, it implies being somewhat unrealistic, an idealist, being impractical. On the other hand, a "dreamer" may also be a visionary, a seeker of new possibilities outside and inside the self.

Living in the "real" world does not necessarily mean we can't also be dreamers, dreams as far as I can ascertain do not come in "one-size-fits-all". Neither does the "real" world.

For the wheels to turn we need both "wheel turners" and "dreamers".

“It is interesting that we call something good a “dream,” but being called a “dreamer” is somewhat of a put down" (Vera Nazarian)

"The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But above all, the world needs dreamers who do."     ( Sarah Ban Breathnach)

Perhaps we need to question what we mean when we use the term "real" world, because somehow I think a Kalahari bushman will have a very different view, and so will many others in other cultures, and if such is the case, how can it be deemed "real"?

 The "real" world for some of us may include metaphysical phenomena, music not yet composed, images not yet painted, questions not yet asked, inventions not yet invented, languages not yet spoken, cures not yet found, and for others; none of the above.

Not all of us are dreamers, but some of us are,

not all of us are doers, but some of us are,

what if instead of saying: in the real world, we say my world then perhaps

value and respect  

could be extended to dreamers and doers alike.