What a perfect world it would be if each of us could start a day with a fresh outlook, free from all worries.
Each culture, I am sure, has come up with a remedy. We all need a release, some sort of comfort to give us hope.

In the June 19, 1961 Peanuts comic strip, Linus explains the need for his security blanket. At the end of each day, he takes it outside and waves it in the air. All his troubles are released allowing Linus to start the next day, in his words, with a “proverbial clean slate.”

Oh, should life be so easy.

Charlie Brown, on the other hand, says to just give a problem time. Not to solve it, but rather to give it time to go away.

I often wonder if Peanuts cartoonist writer Charles M. Schulz received his inspiration for the security blanket from the dream catcher. A search online reaveals that dream catchers are traditional protective talismans originating in Ojibwe culture and were built of a handmade willow loop with a woven web, feathers, and beads. They were traditionally hung over a bed or cradle to filter dreams, catching bad dreams in the web while letting good dreams pass through.

See the similarity?

Not that fears and anxieties are dreams, but it sure beats hanging garlic over the bed to ward off vampires. Except in Transylvania.

Years ago, I was gifted a set of six worry dolls. They are tiny, handcrafted figures originating from the Indigenous Mayan communities of Guatemala. Traditionally, a child or person tells their secret worries to the dolls before bed and places them under their pillow so the dolls can take the anxieties away by morning. The worry dolls I received came from Louisiana.

Science will tell you there is no evidence that a blanket, dream catcher or worry doll actually work.
But the fact is, they do.

There are instances where people who use them feel much better. Perhaps there is more than the blanket proving warmth on cold day, or knowing a dream catcher is above your head protecting you. Medical science cannot explain the power of the mind. If the mind believes it to be so, miracles can occur.

Who is anyone to criticize the validity of a dream catcher if any person believes they truly work? The power of belief, when transferred the power of the mind, is limitless. The most brilliant scientist cannot explain it.

We will not see too many people dragging around a security blanket soon. There are millions of dream catchers and millions of worry dolls around the world.

I’ve never had the good fortune to believe in such good luck charms.

My non-Indigenous mother loved the idea of a dream catcher. I’ve never had one but I do confess putting a worry doll under my pillow after a bad day. The next morning, I had to crawl under the bed to retrieve it because if fell under the mattress onto the floor.

So much for that.
But I envy the people where dream catchers and worry dolls work. What a feeling it must be to start each day fresh.

I have two worry dolls left. Maybe I should give them one last try.

Commentary by
Chris Clegg