By Anagha Rao

*** Reality is a launchpad to your dreams ***
OnlineHost: *** You are in “La La Land” ***
OnlineHost: See what’s hot in the playscapes of your mind! dreamergirl45 has joined the room
dreamergirl45: even on the ground, my head is in the clouds.
dreamergirl45: i gaze at the skyscrapers towering over me, and i feel myself floating towards them.
dreamergirl45: my idols have used the chains that bound them to adorn their necks. what’s stopping me from doing the same?
dreamergirl45: the sky’s not the limit – it’s just what we stand on.
dreamergirl45: the world is mine for the taking!



OnlineHost: *** You are in “The Real World” ***
OnlineHost: Feel the crushing weight of limitation!
OnlineHost: As the dreamer grows up, she finds that dreaming is a lot more work than she thought.
OnlineHost: Work depends on approval. She wasn’t used to pining after others. It didn’t always work.
OnlineHost: She develops a gauge for rejection in her mind. She figures that it would save her time, but it has started to get louder.
dreamergirl45 has joined the room
dreamergirl45: another day with my feet on the ground
dreamergirl45: why don’t people want to help me fly?
dreamergirl45: i’m bound to find someone – right?
r3alitych3ck has joined the room
r3alitych3ck: And what makes you think that?
r3alitych3ck: Are you so good for this Earth that you only see yourself on the moon? Wake up! Humans can’t live there for a reason.
dreamergirl45: maybe you’re right.
r3alitych3ck: Come down, my child. The grass is so comfortable. Sink back into the real world.
dreamergirl45: but maybe you’re wrong. it’s too comfortable! am i supposed to sink into hell? you’re suffocating me! you make me feel like stagnation is my only option! and i know it’s not. i used to be able to see myself in the stars, and now i don’t even know if they exist.
r3alitych3ck: My child, I am trying to protect you. In your path to the moon, you may fall so hard that you are unable to fly again. Take my hand.
dreamergirl45: i will, but only at an arm’s distance. i will not let you consume me. i would rather fall and have lived than regret not getting up at all.

OnlineHost: *** You are on “The Launchpad” ***
OnlineHost: Dreams don’t matter unless they change your world. We must be acquainted with both.



OnlineHost: There is a space between dreams and reality that we dread – too far from the stars to go, too far from Earth to stop.
OnlineHost: But why should we? This moment is but a blip. We will soon forget our struggle when we reap its rewards.
OnlineHost: The dreamer no longer needs to document her highs and lows; she doesn’t take them personally. She course-corrects and flys on.
OnlineHost: Do the same. Blast off, and enjoy the process. ■