“There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, "Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams." Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they're still there.” Erma Bombeck

I love boxes.  I have several that I keep on my shelves. Large ones and small ones; wooden, ceramic, and stone. Some hold treasures ...but most are empty.  Gifts come in boxes.  They hold potential; anything can be inside. 

Important things are kept in boxes like jewelry, chocolates, and crayons.

But these things aren't suppose to be boxed for ever.  They need to be brought out into the light to meet their full potential.  Like jewelry, dreams need the play of light to make them sparkle.  Like chocolates, they are meant to be savored and rolled around on the tongue until they become a part of you.  Like crayons, dreams need to be engaged in the creation of something beyond themselves.  When taken out of the box and used, these things grow and become something more than they were originally.  They are useless if kept inside a box where they will never tarnish or be used up.

Don't get me wrong.  I still love boxes.  In a way, we are the boxes for our dreams.  It's good to have a few of them inside, but they aren't meant to stay there for ever.  Like a bird in a cage, we must let our dreams out to fly from time to time.