By California, where my dreams too became a reality.
Calafia, or maybe Califia was the imaginary queen of an imaginary island called California. Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo’s early sixteenth-century novel “Las Sergas de Esplandián” was a sequel to fifteenth-century romance novels known as Amadís de Gaula written by an unknown author. The novel had a beautiful black woman maybe a queen or just a leader who had ruled an island. The island was compared to the garden of Eden which was full of gold. An author’s created queen found a real land named after her own island. Today we all know this land as California.
Yet where did the author get this name from?
Some think he got it from the Arabic word khalifa, female chief. I wonder like so many before me had wondered if this word had derived from the Greek word Kalli (beautiful) or far fetched maybe but I wonder if it came from the Hindu Goddess Kali. I guess as the author is no more, we too should just be happy with it and know it came from a place where a beautiful queen had ruled and called it her home. Today this magical place is known to all of you as California, where dreams become a reality.
Even though the theory of the name is not proven we can all use some imagination and hope books and authors are given respect, love, and honor for keeping us entertained for years even beyond their time. I, an author who entertains you with my pen, have landed upon this land and am honored to be able to call this land as my land, my home.
For me this is the land where imagination and dreams don’t just stay within the stars, but become a reality.
It’s a magical feeling to know the magical and spell-bounding creation of an author’s imaginary queen’s land , might have been the origin of the name California, my home. I know this is where dreams don’t just stay a dream but do become a reality as this name was derived from a person’s dream and imaginary place called California in the early sixteenth century. Yet even in the twenty-first century, people from around the globe are still dreaming of one day to see this magical land in reality.
As I had written in one of my earlier books, “Dreams are just that dreams until they convert into reality.” My first book ever sold, too was bought by a stranger in California. At that time, I asked myself how would my words, my thoughts, and my dreams be accepted by total strangers as their personal keepsakes to place within their home libraries? It was not months but days after that wish, my first book was sold in California. Afterward, I never stopped my journey through words. At the words of the critics, I just walked in my own lane, and knew this is my journey and it lies ahead not behind. At the words of appreciation and beloved readers and fans, I found the elixir to continue and never stop doing what I wished to do and complete.
Soon afterwards, my books became international bestsellers, some became overnight bestsellers. My dreams of becoming an author too then became a reality, a dream that became a journey as an unknown fan from California had allowed me to continue my journey.
The move to California started with a dream.
On a very foggy night, I had a dream I must go to a place where the mountains meet the skies, where on one side you see the water and on another side you see the mountains. I knew there were so many cities on this Earth that fit this description, I actually never completed this dream. As like so many dreams, I did not realize which land was calling me. Yet in my dream, I saw the land calling me was burning. I cried as I knew this unjust burnings were harming the children of the land.
So I got on my knees and cried for the children of an unknown land. In my dream, I cried for the children of “Kali.” I kept on repeating the word “Kali.” I watched how people were asking for protection yet there were some people who did not care or bother as it did not touch them. I watched the Holy Archangels stand on a mountain watching over me as I kept on crying for this unknown land.
Then in front of me I saw the Holy Spirit, as I told him, “Please don’t let the land be burned down as this land was named after so many saints.” He had asked me if I had ever entered this land. I had said no I have not. Then he said well then come over here.
I had awakened with fear as I did not remember the name of the land. Also like a person in the twenty-first century, how could I just pack everything and move? Also where do I go?
So I let my dream just be a dream and allowed time to be my destiny.
The foggy dream was left hidden within California’s mystical skies.
As dawn broke, my dreams became hidden secrets that were hidden within the enchanted and mystical secrets of the vast skies. I forgot about my dream and the journey I had to take. Then I had another dream where I saw various Saints call me. I watched Saint Anthony and Saint Francis come and awaken me within my dream. They had brought a huge boat filled with fish and asked me to come home. Again I asked where is home? Then I watched Saint Anthony give me back my phone which he said I had left behind by mistake.
Soon after, job relocation and better opportunities had brought my family to San Francisco, California. I realized only then I was living through my dreams. The city which found its name in Spanish after Saint Francis of Assisi. Immediately, I asked myself how could I have been asleep for so long? I had seen the land of saints calling me. I realized time was the answer to all questions asked yet that found no answers. Yes time and tide had brought me to a place I was destined to come to yet either did not pay attention or was just humanly ignorant. Like the human mind always becomes ignorant to the silent seekers yet we only fear what is only placed in front of us.
I decided to drive to this state as it was not too far from my home Seattle, Washington.
It was really hard leaving behind my small paradise, my log cabin under the foothills of Mount Rainier. Where life was a dream and I greeted each dawn with the elk, mountain lions, bears, deer, ducks, geese, the long-necked pelicans. The quiet sparkling stars of the nights I had bid my farewell to, as I wondered how would a country girl who lived in a log cabin with a barn and huge ponds adopt to the city lights and life? So as the last night did approach, I opened the windows and tried to take in all of the night’s musical sounds. I bid my farewell to the frogs who were busy swimming in the ponds. Yes, I placed my home on the market for sale as I don’t want to live a lonely life on 20 acres with mental stress.
As I entered downtown San Francisco, I realized I was about to cross the famous Golden Gate Bridge.
I was happy I wouldn’t be staying in downtown San Francisco or actually I had thought I would not. Yet only my destiny knew where my destination would be.
Did you know the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed during the Great Depression, as all the banks and the financial institutions had failed yet here the banks and the financial institutions in San Francisco never failed? Another fact, I had a dream years ago where I was meditating on a bridge and thought where am I? Yet today even the scientific scholars are having a hard time deciding why the sounds coming from the Golden Gate Bridge sound so much like Aum meditation sounds. Some have even said it’s the saints as they are all praying.
I had stayed in a hotel for more than I would have loved to. For I asked myself how could I get bored with being in a hotel? Yet I guess I did. As the cottage I had rented thirty minutes away from San Francisco had asbestos or so the heating system did, after a long conversation trying to get the owner to fix this problem, we both decided it was time we separate our path.
I had at that time received a call from an apartment leasing agent to give their apartment a chance. I ended up taking the penthouse she offered on spot. The high-up unit has remarkable views over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the bay, the hills, churches, and the famous San Francisco’s cable cars, busses, and trains. Yes I have the view of downtown San Francisco while living within downtown San Francisco. I thought I would be bored yet I heard myself sing the famous song “Downtown.”
Here as I walk, I must go through the amazing steep streets that make me feel like I had become too lazy living within twenty acres of land.
Yet I love my lonely walks as they don’t feel so lonely anymore as this city is filled with such diverse race and culture. Everyone fits right in. A girl from the country wearing her jeans and boots too felt good walking amongst people walking with completely formal attires. Here I want you to know this city also is one of those cities which has the moving National Historical Landmark, the cable cars.
In the end, I must say I am blessed as I have found an amazing place which I shall call my home for the time being. I don’t know if this is where I will again buy a house and call it my home or maybe move to Los Angeles, California, the City of Angels.
Yet for now this is my home San Francisco, California, the Golden City.
Is it safe or is it affordable? A question I have asked myself was answered by my own findings. Yes it is very expensive as the city is growing. Is it safe? A girl who lived alone on twenty acres felt safe and knew my home in Seattle, Washington was very safe. Yet at nights I had became scared if someone was out there on my twenty acres of privacy for no one would even know. Yet the loneliness can become your best friend or worst enemy. It all depends on how you see the grounds on your end.
I saw in San Francisco, strangers told me to walk this way not that way. They also guided me to places as I went shopping for furniture or bread. Safety is an issue one must deal with everywhere on this Earth. I loved walking in the crowd as I felt like one of them walking with one another not against. Also as people from diverse cultures are arriving, the city feels like one world where everyone keeps an eye out for one another.
I have come home to a place where the mountains, the ocean, and the skies seem to be greeting one another at least from afar as we the humans now greet one another from afar.
Here the saints and angels are watching over all as I an author whose heart is filled with hope and wishes have come and landed upon this land.
A land named after a sixteenth-century author’s dreamland where his beautiful character, the queen of his novel had resided within the pages of his book. Now I an author who too has written novels which started in the sixteenth century and transitioned to the twenty-first century have landed upon a land which actually is known to the world as California. A land where dreams do come true. I realized dreams are like the mystical fog of San Francisco. Yet here, the city, the Golden Gate Bridge, the bay, the mountains, and the cable cars exist in the fog and don’t leave when the fog disappears.
As I greeted another blessed day as dawn had broken through the night’s skies, I realized dreams are just that dreams. Yet you alone can convert them into reality. Get on your feet and start the journey today. Convert your dreams into reality through the journey of your life. You alone know the complete truth about your heart’s desires and you alone can complete this journey. Dream a little and then let this dream be your reality as you complete the journey. Dreams can become a reality as you are the dreamer and it’s your dream and your reality.
From years ago, thousands have traveled to this magical land where dreams became their reality. A sixteenth-century author’s book had his dream land called California for me today at least now as my prophesied dreams stand in front of me. I won’t stop dreaming and I won’t stop going to other places I must be in yet for now, California is where my dreams too have became my reality.
Some more interesting facts for you the lonely traveler:
Maybe you are dreaming tonight to be in San Francisco where you could just walk into the magical fog? Maybe this fog has an elixir hidden within it. Why don’t you come and visit this mystical city, sometime in the future, maybe just maybe your dreams might become a reality.
- San Francisco is the thirteenth largest city in the United States.
- Time Out named San Francisco as the world’s best city to live in for 2021.
- One of many nicknames is the Golden City.
- San Francisco is famous for its steep hills and the mystical fog.
- San Francisco is usually cooler than other big cities of California.
- The City of New York does not sleep yet San Francisco falls asleep at 1 AM.
- The Chinese fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco.
- The longtime permanent residents of Pier 39 in Fisherman’s Wharf are the amazing mysterious sea lions.
- Burials are not allowed in the city of San Francisco.
Now as you have started to plan your mystical journey in your dreamland, maybe tonight just dream a little and let this dream become a reality as you find a home even for a night, for yourself and your family and friends in my hometown San Francisco, California.
Love and blessings from San Francisco, California,
