Every so often, life hands you something for free.
This weekend, it's an hour.
Late Saturday night, after the last trick-or-treaters have gone to bed, daylight saving time ends for the year. At 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, the clocks turn back to 1 a.m., and that hour simply plays again. It's the one day of the year with an extra hour built right in.
A small gift that's easy to miss
Most of us barely notice it. Our phones change by themselves overnight, the clock on the stove stays wrong for weeks, and the extra hour slips away into one more load of laundry or one more scroll through the news.
But think about it for a moment. When was the last time anyone gave you a whole hour that nobody had already claimed? No meeting, no errand, no appointment. Just sixty minutes that weren't on the calendar the day before.
That seems worth doing something with.
Spend it on the dream, not the to-do list
The to-do list will still be there on Monday. It always is. So here's a gentle idea for this weekend: give your bonus hour to something you've been meaning to dream about, not something you've been meaning to finish.
Maybe it's the garden you keep sketching on the backs of envelopes. The story you started years ago and set aside. The guitar waiting in the closet. The trip you'd love to take someday, still waiting for someone to unfold the map. Or simply a long, slow conversation with someone you love, with the phones in another room.
It doesn't have to be big. One hour won't build a dream. But one hour can start one, and starting is often the hardest part.
A few ways to spend a free hour
- Sketch the dream. Grab a notebook and draw or write what you'd love your life to include a few years from now. No rules, and no spelling tests.
- Play something together. Try Names & Faces, a gentle memory game, or I Have a Feeling, a fun way to practice your intuition. Both are free on our games page and made for all ages.
- Curl up with a light read. Pick one of our short articles, like the story of the island that turned off its lights so young seabirds could find their way to the sea.
- Read to a dog. Yes, really. A dog is a wonderfully patient audience, especially for a child who is still learning to read. We wrote about it in The Best Listener in the Library Has Four Paws.
- Do nothing, on purpose. Sit by a window with something warm to drink and let your mind wander. Daydreaming counts.
Even Buddy has a plan
Our pup Buddy, a mostly-Corgi mix with strong opinions about rest, has already announced how he'll spend his extra hour: a long nap on the rug, as close to the warmest spot in the house as he can get. We can't say he's wrong. Rest can be part of a dream, too.
Your turn
So here's our question for you: If you had one truly free hour, which dream would you spend it on?
Ask it at the dinner table this weekend. Ask your kids or grandkids what they'd do with an extra hour, and get ready for some wonderful answers. Then tell us yours when you see this on social media. We'd genuinely love to hear what you choose.
And if you live in Hawaii or most of Arizona, where the clocks don't change, you're welcome to borrow the idea anyway. A free hour is wherever you decide to make one.
Enjoy the extra hour, and keep dreaming.
Looking for more to enjoy together? Our free games are made for all ages, including memory games, word games, and a fun way to practice your intuition. You'll also find more uplifting articles, plus Memory Tips & Tricks, at LiveToDream.com.
By G Fuzes · More articles