Make Believe

Many times our every day lives can overwhelm us and we desperately need a break. Being a wife, homemaker, and mother can be a challenge and some days we feel discouraged. That's the time when we would like to enter the world of Make-Believe. Perhaps after we do the dishes, change a diaper, and put our children down for a nap, we may have a couple hours to read a novel and slip into that make-believe world; a world of escape when our frustrations are high and we desperately need a break and a place to relax so we can be ready for the next go-around with our children. In that little corner is a world that can fill us with wonder, where dreams can come true, where we can go on an intriguing adventure, or we can even fall in love all over again...reminding us of the first time we fell in love with our husbands. Lucy Montgomery said, "While solitude with dreams is glorious, solitude without them has few charms." Jerome Kern expressed it differently. He wrote, "The game of just supposing is the sweetest game I know. Our dreams are more romantic than the world we see." Perhaps the world we see is full of dirty dishes, soiled diapers, teenagers arguing over an item that was recently borrowed, and busy husbands that forget to give us a kiss before they walk out the door. This can make a homemaker feel discouraged. Times like this are when we would like to enter the World of Make-Believe. How many times have you wished to go on an adventure in the jungles of South America, follow Harry Potter into a magical world, or to fall in love all over again? We need to be reminded of that romantic love. Novels are a "god-send" and can give us that extra little "umph" that we need. They can also teach us and remind us where our priorities should be, reminding us to not take our relationships for granted. In my novel, Melinda and the Wild West, we can imagine how it feels when Gilbert gazes warmly at Melinda, admiring her integrity and studying her face, as if memorizing every contour of it. We can imagine how it feels when he impulsively lifts her chin and presses his warm lips to hers, making her heart swell within. Then we remember what it was like to be in love and all our frustrations leave as we sigh and close the novel, just waiting to pick it up when we have time the following day. When we slide our hands around our husband's waist and give him a hug, we can "make-believe" that we are young once again and realize that our love is greater now than the first day of our marriage. We've had those tough days and wonder if we were destined to change diapers and clean house for the rest of our lives, but we can get through it. We're tough and we can do anything we set our minds to. When you read how Gilbert cradled Melinda in his arms and gazed into her eyes with adoring love, think of the adoring love you have for the man you married. When he cooks for you or watches the children so you can have a halcyon day to yourself, be grateful for his help. Appreciate what he does for you and then plan a romantic get-away once in a while. Just remember that "if the things we dream about don't happen to be so, that's just an unimportant technicality." (Jerome Kern) The happy ending in the novels you read can happen if you only let it. Life is worth living and it will become what we make of it. Just remember to pick up a novel and take some time for yourself and "Make-Believe."