Cause there's a million things to be : Reflections on Cat Stevens' brave call for happiness

The other day the TV series "Ray Donovan" had an episode end with him singing the Cat Stevens song , " If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out" to his teenage daughter who was stressed out and remembered him singing the song to her as a little girl. It was a touching moment, but I forgot about it until this morning. I had a dream last night in which my son was a baby still, and we lived in this house with hundreds of aquariums filled with tropical fish of all sizes, from ridiculously small to eerily large, and of all colours. In the dream, the water levels in a number of the tanks was getting dangerously low, so I was busy adding more water to them. I was holding my son the whole time, who got a particular kick out of one small aquarium that held very brightly turquoise and lavender colored small fish who were getting very anxious about the low water level. One jumped out, and my son and I were busy getting it back into the tank, him laughing heartily the whole time. It was a busy and colorful dream, and it was interesting to me that this morning the Cat Stevens song came back to my mind. "Well, if you want to sing out, sing out. And if you want to be free, be free. Cause there's a million things to be. You know that there are... And if you want to live high , live high. And if you want to live low, live low. Cause there's a million ways to go. You know that there are... " The memory of the lyrics sung by the father and his distraught daughter touched a deep core in me, one that made me temporarily feel very melancholic. My son is 23 now, and perhaps the dream of me holding him as a baby, laughing with him, as we were dealing with the stressful situation of adding water to the scared fish in so many of the tanks, was a hope that as a mother I had been doing a good job, and wanted to keep being there for him. A wish for him to be able to fulfill his dreams and his talents, as an artist and a budding writer. " You can do what you want. The opportunity is on. And if you can find a new way. You can do it today. You can make it all true. And you can make it undo..." The chorus repeats with a new challenge : " Well, if you want to say yes, say yes. And if you want to say no, say no. Cause there's a million ways to go. You know that there are..." The song ends appropriately with the chorus repeating one more time about singing and being free : " Well, if you want to sing out, sing out. And if you want to be free, be free. Cause there's a million things to be. You know that there are... " It is a simple song on the surface, with a straightforward, catchy refrain, but it speaks of a determination and wisdom we all want to have when it comes to life and its challenges that can get in our way, and we all want our children to have the energy and resolve to face life's challenges with optimism and courage and confidence. I will share this song with my son, and what I  saw in it, as far as my wishes for him are concerned. He may be 23 now, but I think it will make his sensitive, creative heart feel good this song made me think of his efforts to make his way in this world. I will share the dream too, it is nice to hear as a child that your parent can be emotional and a bit confused too, about their abilities and effectiveness when raising a child. Now that I wrote about the dream and the emotions the song brought up, somehow the melancholy shifted to the upbeat intention of the song, and it is now playing in my head as a happy admonition, full of kindness and grace.