When Dreams are Calling by Carol Vorvain

to share your dreams and fears with me, in that
moment you
already gave me the best of you. Loving you made me happy, being next
to you
made me happy and seeing you grow made me ever happier. Seeing all the
other
guys roaming around you, hmmm, not very happy,” he laughed. “In my
wildest
dreams, I imagine myself making love to you.”
    “Someone has got the dreaming part right.”
    “Yep! However, the reality seems to be a bit of
an issue.”
    “Think of it like that: they may all want me,
some might even have
me, but sooner or later they might be gone. But you, my friend, will
always
remain.”
    “Tortured for life! That sounds promising.”
    “Stop it! You make me sound like an awful
person.”
    “Not awful. Just tantalizing, freakin’
beautiful. Outside and
inside. Not your fault, I know. Let’s walk back. We’ll freeze if we’ll
stay
here longer.”
    “Love you.”
    “I love you too, sweetie,” he said giving me a
kiss on the forehead.
“More than you’ll ever know.”
    Although he never became my lover, he was and
remained my lifetime
best friend, the most amazing, loyal, wise, and funniest guy, with a
heart made
of pure gold.
----
    Dora’s
Journal Notes
While some might
be good at talking
about love, others might just show you what it means.
True friendship is
built in time of
need and celebrated each day. 
If you are
extraordinary today it’s
only because someone extraordinary believed in you. It’s your turn to
do the
same.
Without lovers we
might survive, but
without friends we will crumble.
Never let a true
friend go. You might
never find another.
For women, being
close means telling
you everything you don’t really want to know.
----

14
When Kindness Does the Trick
    When
working hard is all you do,
    But
no one seems to care for you;
    When
things keep piling up ahead,
    Despite
working till you drop dead,
     
    Just
take a step, a wide step back
    And
try to be less of a maniac,
    Open
your arms and heart and mind,
    Believe
in you and just be kind!

“Today marks three
years since I left my homeland,” I said to myself on a beautiful day of
spring
while coming out of the subway. “Three years since I came to Toronto
hoping to
find a job, to go back to school, and slowly build a whole new life
from
scratch.”
    And what did you do? my inner voice
replied, move at least five times, hold at least ten
different jobs, and cry
at least twice every day.
    “I know. It seems the harder I work, the fewer
rewards I get out of
it. I’m tired of climbing a mountain that keeps hiding its peak from me
like
Fata Morgana keeps hiding her face from tired travelers. Robert is
right.
Better to be a lawyer in my own country than a cleaner in someone
else’s.”
    You mean it's better to give up than stay and
fight.
    “It’s a lot of wisdom in giving up too.”
    And a lot of fear that some call wisdom as well.
    I probably would have continued to beat myself
up if not for the old
homeless street musician playing a violin. It was gypsy music, and it
reminded
me of home. I loved that music. Every day as I walked by, it put a
smile on my
face, took a wrinkle off my forehead, and gave me a glitter in my eyes.
    “People like him, artists, make the world a
better place to be,” I
said to myself, feeling a strong impulse to give him my twenty dollars.
    At first it seemed silly, but more I thought
about it, more it felt
like the right thing to do. No struggle, no disappointment, no
humiliation should stop us be humble, compassionate, and goodhearted.
    I reached my pockets and handed him the bill.
He smiled and thanked
me. It was the most genuine smile I saw in months.
    I did not want to know how he ended up on the
streets. It was not my
place to judge him. The last three years taught me that no matter how
high up
you are, no matter how secure you think your life is, one day
everything can
change. Sometimes it might be your fault, sometimes not. It does not
matter.
All that matters is you still have a heart, you are