Kids love bubbles. Big or small. Doesn’t matter. All kiddos love delicate, intricately-shaped, thin soap bubbles. As simple as it is to create bubbles, some of us are much more adept at getting the soap-to-water ratio just right, creating the perfect formula for long-lasting bubbles.

Picture this: kids of all ages playing with soap bubbles in a park full of short-cut green grass. Running, jumping, blowing them, sloshing soapy water, getting wet, laughing and smiling. Picture in your mind those bubbles, each and every one of them. These are your hopes. Your dreams. Your unrealized potential. And, as you age, you play less, blow fewer bubbles, and work harder than before, thinking somehow hard work and dedication will lift those soap bubbles skyward.

That’s not how dreams work. Visions, dreams, and aspirations? As adults, we focus on discipline, grounding ourselves in hard work, and paying attention to every detail. Now, those same soapy-bubble dreams? They are hindered by these thin strings of hard work and dedication. Before, we used our imaginations and let those bubbles fly. Today, we restrict our dreams, holding tightly to them, believing in our souls they are impervious to being popped by our environment.

These strings are woven from broken dreams, those popped long ago by loved ones, people we once respected, or bullies. The deeper the hurt, the more majestic the pain, the smaller the bubbles, and the more string we weave readying ourselves to tie them tightly to our bubbles as we work to pop those bubbles of those who hurt us.

Tired of your bubbles being so small? Are you done with tying down your dreams? Cutting those ties isn’t easy, particularly for those who were or are hurting. Small acts of courageous behavior are needed as a start. Then, as you get more and more brave, like those little ones blowing bubbles of every size, you won’t be scared to blow the most giant bubbles in your life!

Some of us have figured out what our strings look like so instead of cutting them free, we take it, harnessing their energy. Shredding those strings, we use every bit of them, incorporating the string into our soaps. Does that mean our bubbles are better than those we blew as kids? Not better. Different. More mature. Less hurried. And more artistic because of years of experience.

Many of us forgot how to blow them. What was our water-to-soap ratio? Did we use bar soap? Or liquid? Or powder soap? (Do they still make that pink stuff anymore? You know, the pink powdered soap you used to see in gas stations with the linen towel you had to pull down on to dry your hands?) Did you forget what dreams were? Did you stop using your imagination because work got in the way? Did you stop playing because it wasn’t fun anymore?

Get outside today. Blow some bubbles. Recreate your dreams. Dream new ones. Free yourself from the confines of work and remember what playing feels like.

And as for that soap-to-water ratio? I guess you can always Google it.