Dreaming

I have these dreams from time to time, where I've met a woman, someone that I'm totally mesmerized by. It's always someone who as far as I can recall upon awakening, is not a person that I've ever known in my real life world. And the dreams are different from other dreams in that they seem to last for hours instead of the normal minute or two and also that upon awakening, I feel regret that they were not real. I don't know where the woman in each comes from. It's not like I'm trying to conjure her up. I'm not aware that the woman even has a name. I've had maybe three or four such dreams in the past year and it's been a different face in each but the qualities have been the same ..... Kindness, gentleness, grace, beauty, compassion, humility. If I were a little younger and a little less jaded, I just might have hopes that the woman is somewhere in my future.

I had one of these dreams last night. The feelings were still with me after a day at work and now remain hours later. There's a yearning to find her. The dream is not enough. I wonder if it's a message to remain hopeful? Over the past year, I've lost whatever hope I had been holding onto. It's funny and I'm not quite sure how to explain it, but even though it's just a dream, the dream experience of being in love is real. There's a genuine feeling of longing that exists regardless of how it came about.