A girl can dream … I find myself saying that a lot. Really, almost mocking myself. Basically dismissing my imagination and desires. But why? A girl CAN dream. A woman can dream, anyone can dream. Everyone SHOULD dream.

When I was a little girl I used to imagine and dream all the time. I pretended to be a teacher, a mother, a singer, a writer, a wife. I believed in all of it; without a shadow of a doubt, it was all going to be my future. No one stopped me from dreaming. In fact, imagination was embraced and encouraged. So, what happened along the way, on the journey from childhood to adulthood? How did that dreaming I once took so seriously become a personal side joke to myself?

One beautiful, lazy Saturday afternoon in the park a wedding party was having their photos taken with the  Hudson River as their backdrop (another dream of mine: to get married somewhere on the water in the serene Hudson Valley). I, of course, had my trusty camera with me and started snapping shots of the party. The bride was gorgeous. It was an Indian wedding, and the bridesmaids were dressed in bright fuchsia dresses adorned with sparkling jewels. It was like a free movie in the park for those who were there. But as I snapped away, it was a little girl looking on who came into focus.

She must have been just a few years old. She stood completely still, mesmerized by the bride on her special day. I could feel the power of her imagination transporting her to another world. A place where possibilities are endless and you truly believe from the pit of your stomach to the beautiful ache in your heart that what you envision is reachable. The present-day reality surrounding her came to a halt; it was just her and her dream.

Thanks to the power of editing, and my novice Photoshop skills, I attempted to transform the photo I took into what my imagination saw that day. I call it “little girl dream”.

I have set the image as the background on my desktop and my blackberry, so that every day I am reminded to strive to be like that little girl; to be the little girl that I used to be, and just dream it.

photo by allyson curtis