"I slept and dreamt that life was beauty; I woke and found that life was duty"

While asleep, the mind drifts into a world of beauty, ease, and effortless pleasure, unhindered by complications and responsibilities. The dreamstate, here, becomes a metaphor for the yearning many harbor, a desire for life to be simple, romantic, and beautiful, unmarked by the obligations and toils of reality. Dreams allow endless possibility, offering a glimpse of life as art, where happiness and contentment flow naturally. In such visions, there is no pressing burden, only the sweet illusion that existence itself is aesthetically pleasing, comforting, and perfect.

Upon waking, however, the gentle curtain of sleep is lifted, exposing the substance of daily living. Suddenly, one is confronted by the profound difference between the imagined world and the actual experiences of consciousness. Reality, unlike the dream, is defined by duty, responsibilities, challenges, work, the necessity to strive and serve beyond one’s personal desires. Life must be faced with involvement and a sense of obligation, whether to oneself, to others, or to society at large. Beauty fades into the background, replaced by the demands that real living places upon each person.

Yet, the contrast between dreaming of beauty and waking to duty uncovers an important human truth: while aspirations and dreams are essential, they often exist only in the world of sleep. The essence of growth, maturity, and fulfillment emerges not from effortless enjoyment, but from the acceptance and performance of one’s duty. Service, perseverance, and responsibility become the grounds for genuine satisfaction and purpose, even if they lack the ease and charm of dreams. Perhaps, through embracing duty, one might eventually find a deeper beauty, one rooted in the perseverance of the human spirit and the meaning built through dedication, rather than in passive enjoyment. Thus, the journey from dream to wakefulness mirrors the universal passage from innocence and hope to experience and responsibility.