Dreamland by Sam Quinones Literary Analysis Essay Sample

Peace of mind comes with finding the most meaningful places in life. These places provide endless memories and valuable lessons. Dreamland written by Sam Quinones contains exactly what a meaningful place is. In 1929 a blue-collared town in Ohio opened a football field sized private swimming pool called Dreamland. The popular swimming pool was seen as the summertime babysitter. The endless nights and familiar faces from around the town caused major traction and soon enough Dreamland expanded and added fields and courts. Dreamland was all the rage for the locals, as many generations of families were brought to the pool. The cycle continued for many years but eventually, the town began to decline. An epidemic of opiates and other drugs began to invade the city eventually leaving it abandoned and simply a memory (Quinones 100-104). While dealing with the pandemic I found myself in two different places that helped mentally that I now consider meaningful places. My room and the gym have shined a light in some of the darker moments in my life and that’s what makes them so meaningful to me.

My room or my sanctuary as I like to call it for several reasons is like a getaway that provides comfort and reliability when nothing else can. My room possesses everything that makes me happy. It is filled with posters that have meaning behind them, a gaming setup that takes my mind off things, and a bed that will always provide comfortability. Last year around September/October I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease which changed my life completely. I went from being able to eat anything and live a fantastic “normal” life to taking frequent bathroom trips and losing a lot of weight because of it. I didn’t feel the same and honestly had no drive to do anything with anyone. My room was always there though. No one in my life understands what I go through mentally, so this environment I created in my room helps clear my mind when times get rough. It’s hard to explain the feeling of unwinding but that’s exactly how I feel every time I step foot into my room and without that, I couldn’t even imagine my mental state.

Through the trials and tribulation, I was in desperate need of answers to how to get back to some form of normality. While playing the game my friend mentioned that he just signed up at the gym and that we should come sign up and join him. This is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget because till this day we still go 4 days a week consistently. The gym has transformed my body into better shape even before being diagnosed. The gym has made me feel good about myself again and brought back my motivation to keep moving forward. At the very beginning of when I was diagnosed and losing weight very fast I was at 110 then after taking the colonoscopy prep I dropped even lower to 105. I was 17 at the time and looking at those numbers blew my mind. Today I am 130 and even though that’s not a lot to people my age I consider it a huge milestone with all the challenges I had to face. The gym is able to take out all of my frustration and put it into my workout and by the end I feel great. Without the gym I can’t imagine what I'd be doing or how I'd be feeling but I do know that this was one of my best decisions for my health.

The combination of both my room and the gym provide almost everything I need to keep trucking forward. On one hand my room acts as my escape from reality which contains comfortability when I don’t feel the best and on the other the gym takes all the leftover emotions that are held inside of me and puts them toward my workout. Although both places are very different, they both provide stability and I am able to rely on them to make me feel better. When I am in my room I am able to relax and think about what I can do to better my health and myself all together. When I’m in the gym I’m able to execute my thinking into physical activity. These two places are definitely my most meaningful places and for that I am very thankful. Finding a meaningful place can come from anywhere as long as it makes one happy.