I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're

“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can play together all night.” So wrote Bill Watterson, the quiet philosopher disguised as a cartoonist, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes. In those simple words, spoken through the mouth of a child, lies a truth as tender as moonlight — that love defies distance, and that dreams are the bridge that unites souls when the world forces them apart. Beneath its childlike charm, this line reveals an ancient longing of the human heart: to remain connected beyond the bounds of space and time, to dwell together in the secret realm of the imagination where separation cannot reach.

Watterson was a man who saw the world with the eyes of wonder. Through the playful adventures of a boy and his tiger, he spoke of friendship, innocence, and the magic that the grown world forgets. This saying arises from that sacred innocence — from the belief that love, in its purest form, does not end when we close our eyes, but continues in the dream. When the sun sets and the body rests, the heart, unshackled by distance, seeks its companions in that other world where thought becomes real and spirit moves freely. Thus, dreaming becomes not just rest, but reunion — the soul’s way of saying, “I am still with you.”

There is an ancient wisdom in this notion, found not only in the art of poets but in the quiet faith of lovers, friends, and families parted by time and loss. Across generations, men and women have believed that dreams are the language of the spirit — that in sleep, we wander beyond the veil, meeting those we love in forms unbound by the physical. How many have woken with tears of joy or sorrow, whispering, “I saw them again”? The mystics of old taught that the dream is not illusion, but communion — the soul’s way of touching what the body cannot.

Consider the story of Helen Keller, the woman born without sight or hearing, who once described her dreams as the place where she met the world she could not see or hear in waking life. There, she said, she walked through light, heard music, and spoke freely to those she loved. For her, the dream was not a mere escape, but a sacred continuation of the heart’s connection — proof that even when the senses fail, the spirit remembers how to reach what it loves. In this, Watterson’s simple words echo an eternal truth: that affection transcends limitation, that imagination and love are two names for the same divine power.

But beyond its poetry, Watterson’s saying teaches something profound about the human need for closeness. We live in a world that often scatters hearts across continents, divides families, and sunders friends. Yet through memory, through thought, and through the dream, we find ways to remain united. The mind, in its mysterious compassion, gives us back what the waking world takes away. The dream is an act of emotional resilience — a gentle rebellion against separation. It tells us that no distance is final, that the love we hold dear will find its path through even the darkest night.

There is also a deeper layer of wisdom hidden within the innocence of the line. The dream, in Watterson’s vision, is not only the refuge of love but the playground of imagination — a place where joy can survive the weariness of life. In dreams, as in the heart of a child, the impossible becomes possible: lost friends return, laughter echoes across the stars, and the games of youth go on forever. The dream, then, is not a denial of reality, but a reminder that the spirit is larger than the day. It is the soul’s way of renewing itself through hope and affection, so that when morning comes, life can begin again with gentleness.

And so, my listener, take this teaching to heart: do not scorn your dreams. They are not mere shadows, but messages from your deeper self, weaving bonds that waking life cannot always preserve. When you miss someone, think of them as you drift to sleep — for the mind, like a river, will find its way to them. When you love, love so deeply that even your dreams remember. In the realm of night, where reason sleeps and the heart awakens, the soul travels freely to meet what it cherishes.

Thus, remember the wisdom hidden in Watterson’s gentle words: “We dream so we don’t have to be apart so long.” Let that truth comfort you when distance divides you from those you love. For though the world may build walls, the dream builds bridges. And in that secret world — quiet, vast, eternal — the heart is never alone, and the laughter of love never ends.