What would it be like to live in a world where my sons can dream big? The smile on his face while wearing a dream big shirt is the source of my provocation for today. What would it feel like not to be afraid of raising black sons or be married to a black physician, one who sees no color when he spends hours, standing, removing clots from brain, in the middle of day or all through the night? What then would it be like for him and my sons to live in a world where they are not judged by the color of their skin but the content of your character? Can they dream big?

What about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic? What is an acceptable death rate? An acceptable coronavirus case rate? Yesterday, we recorded 150,000 new cases in a single day for the first time, with close to 242,000 deaths. Whom shall we blame? Covid19? What would it be like to live in a world where there are no cases, no deaths as we move into the holiday season with people staying indoors? Whom shall we blame? Indoors? What would it be like if there are serious, learned people, serious scientists working behind the scenes to end the pandemic? Whom should we trust? The scientists? A leader who doesn’t trust the scientists? Clearly we all deserve an end to this pandemic. Everyone does. Especially mothers like myself juggling work and homeschooling. And I hope we get solutions, effortless ones, that allow us all to return back to normalcy as quickly as possible. Can we dream big?

But, is anything going to be normal post Covid19? Are we all going to stop wearing masks, stop social distancing, stop homeschooling? What if we could all dream, ‘not the activity of sleeping brain,’ Toni Morrison once said, but the ‘activity of a wakened, alert one?’ What if we could dream big to save us from the mess we find ourselves in today? What if in dreaming big, we avoid complicating what is simple, like wearing a mask, or simplifying what is complicated, like even when vaccines are available, still wear a mask? There was a time when contemplating a post pandemic world was critical, necessary and compelling. But I am convinced that focusing on it now, even with the recent news of the Pfizer vaccine is a wasted effort. I’d like to do as my son’s shirt provokes me to do instead and dream big.

Dreaming big is necessary if we are to get to the end of the pandemic. Dreaming big must be a commitment me and you make to each other so we stay safe because our lives depends on it. It does and we are not helpless or heartless even with this pandemic so long as we do as my son’s shirt asks and keep dreaming big.