Excerpt from my journal dated 8/2/02
As little kids we dreamed big dreams; we wanted to grow up and be something. A rock star, cop, fireman, astronaut, pro wrestler, star athlete, famous actor, doctor - anything that had meaning in the eyes of a child.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" It's a question you hear in classrooms all across America. Most answers are fairly predictable though you'll occasionally hear things like microbiologist, political activist, or private business entrepreneur. My answer was 'an architect.' And it remained my answer through much of high school.
Unfortunately, only a rare few achive those dreams. Somewhere between college and kindergarten those dreams turn into a faint whisper from a past that no longer exists. We are taught to be reasonable, not to be creative. We are told to stop climbing on the furniture and to quit playing with our food. In the process of education, imagination is lost. Daydreamers are heretics rather than visionaries.
Plans change. No one ever dreams of becoming the night shift manager at Taco Bell, yet some are forever condemned to that life. Giving up their childhood dreams for a name tag and a ridiculous uniform. They become a part of the masses; one of the many working their way up from minimum wage. They don't enoy their jobs but they still go, pretending to be content.
What happened to our aspirations? If we look at our lives, are we anything like the person we had imagined ourselves to be?
So, do you tell your kids to stop playing with their food?
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