In Quest for a Pet Cow

Last night I had a dream that I was exploring a house that was for sale, while the owners who were trying to sell it were drinking lemonade on the porch, chatting with Josiah. The backyard was lush and green like a tropical oasis. There was a pond with fish thicker than I had ever seen before. Sipping water from the pond was what looked like a cow. I squinted my eyes to see if my mind was playing tricks on me. What made this cow so peculiar is that it was tiny. It was no larger than a medium sized dog. In my dream, I ran over to the miniature black and white cow to pet it. I ran to the owners of the home and to Josiah to ask about this small dairy animal. The female owner smiled at me and said, "Oh yes that's a mini cow. She's my little baby." At this point, I was ecstatic. A miniature cow? Ever since I was five years old I have had dreams of owning a cow and the idea of a mini cow romanced me even more.

I woke up from the dream slightly depressed from the high I experienced in my sleep. Miniature cows don't exist. Right? Curiosity took me to a Google search for "mini cow." An hour later, I found myself on a rabbit trail of research about the mini cow breed. Turns out they do exist, that the market for the breed is growing, and that they are more economical and docile than standard sized cows. In other words, they make good pets. You can imagine my euphoria after I discovered this. My dream has always been to own a pet cow. While other little girls my age were romanced by horses and ponies, I was mesmerized by the black and white cow. Something about having a farm with a dairy cow to milk has captured my heart for years. I would dream about tending to my cow, while painting landscapes of the pastures and of course, writing children's books about the animals on the farm.

As I grew up, I shed a part of that dream in the name of "practicality." But over the last few years, I once again long for that life I dreamt of as a child. Someday I do want to have a small acreage farm with at least a couple (perhaps miniature) cows that I can milk and provide organic dairy for my family and write about the little things that happen on a farm. It's not a dream to save the world, or to gain recognition or fame, but to fulfill some longing for myself that I was nearly born with. Milking a cow might perhaps not be the most noble calling in the world, but it is something that is so ingrained in who I am that for me, it is the noblest of pursuits.

What is it that you really want to do? What is that thing that you were born longing for, and perhaps in your adult life have tossed aside as you "toughen up" to the world? People will always try to tell you that some aspirations are more noble than others. I think this is untrue. Even the most "insignificant" things can have infinite value.

I have admitted my childish, somewhat self-revealing and embarrassing dream. I can't be the only one. Right? What is your secret little "insignificant" dream? I'm not talking about the ones you list in your resume or use to impress an employer during an interview. Yawn.

It could be as ridiculous as owning a pet cow.