June 19, 1997
4:37PM EST

If wishes were horses ...

That's a saying that came swimming into my consciousness not too long ago. A wistful phrase that holds cupped in its palm, an overarching sense of possibility. Mothers use it to chasten their children when their thoughts stray too far out of the realm of reality, to bring them back to earth.

But whenever it comes to mind, instead of being curtailed, my mind rushes to fill in the if at the end of the saying, with a million different things, that could happen, that I want to happen, that someone else might want, or could be.

If wishes were horses, we'd all have wings.
If wishes were horses, I'd be the king.
If wishes were horses, I'd have everything
If wishes were horses, there'd be peace and harmony.

et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, as the King of Siam would say.

I've been thinking about some of the things I want to happen in my life. Sabs' philosophy is that he just wants to be able to look back on life, and feel that he had a good life and he'll be content.

If wishes were horses, I'd have a good dose of his joie de vivre.

Why are some people so very happy, inherently joyful, truly still children at heart? Why are others so dour you could sour milk with their gaze? Why is it so hard for some people to stay in a good mood? Is it really all just some bio-chemical process in the brain? And what of the soul, what role does it play? How does it interface with the biology?

What is it, to be human?