To all the big dreamers out there...
Discard all of the negative things anyone has ever told you about "dreaming big." If you have a dream larger than life, believe in it. The entire world could hate your dream; they could tell you that it's never going to happen and that you need to be more realistic, but if you believe in your dream, nothing else matters. The only person standing in the way of that dream is yourself.
Creativity is one of the most overlooked, discouraged acts in society. In a world that condones memorizing information and getting near-perfect scores on standardized tests to get into a decent college, people often lose their creative spirit the more they age. In a society that has school districts cutting art and music programs left and right, in place of new technology or more money towards athletics, the world is going into a creative despair.
As a child, we are often told to dream big because "the sky's the limit." We are allowed to believe that we can be princesses, astronauts, or the president when we grow up because our minds are young and we have yet to experience the harsh reality. As a child, we are allowed to believe that we can do anything we set our mind to; we are encouraged to be creative and think outside of the box. The more we age, the more society tells us who we should be and what we should do with our lives. However, the more we age, the more discouraged 'dreaming big' becomes. The more we age, the more we realize the world lied to us.
As a free spirit, I struggle with the fact that the world doesn't want me to be different. I struggle with the fact that people disagree with my desire to be a journalist or live in California or travel the world or go skydiving because "it's different." I hate routines, yet the world loves them. I hate realistic expectations (i.e. getting a college degree, getting married, working a 9-5 job to pay the bills), yet the world loves it. The world loves routines and realistic expectations because they're easy. The easy road is more realistic because it has less bumps and less chances of getting a flat tire. The easier the road, the more guaranteed someone is of getting a decent paying job to satisfy their basic needs. But what about people like me? What about the big dreamers of the world?
Young-adults preparing for the real-world are more terrified than excited. We are terrified because we don't want to live a life of creative despair. We don't want to end up like most adults in the world: unhappy and frustrated (that's not to say that there aren't happy adults either.) There are too many unhappy adults in the world who hate their job, life, etc. They probably question why their life is the way it is. They probably question when they were last happy and stress-free. Throughout my life, I have asked a number of adults what they wanted to be when they grew up when they were a kid. "Oh, I wanted to be a...but... The magic word: "but." There's always an excuse or something or someone that got in the way of their dream.
Have you ever met an adult who didn't say they wish they could be a kid again? We all know childhood is much easier than adulthood. Children are carefree and happy. They don't have a worry in the world because they don't have to. They can dream big and believe they can be an actor or musician because reality hasn't set in. The most-used phrase is "enjoy it while you're young." The phrase is overused because the world is unhappy and is lacking creativity. People aren't doing what their heart desires because they're trapped. Why quit the six-figure job and travel the world when you live in a six-bedroom house with a pool in your backyard and take a nice vacation every year? Why forgo a college education to become a musician when you could be potentially be passing up the opportunity to make a six-figure salary and have a stable job in the future?
The world has too many "what-if's?" What-if it was acceptable to forgo a college education to become a musician? What if it was acceptable and realistic to quit your job in upstate New York making $95,000 a year to live on an island and work as a bartender like a women featured in Cosmopolitan magazine did? What if it was acceptable to quit your six-figure salary job to travel to 36 countries while giving high-fives along the way like a man in Australia did. What if?
As Dr. Seuss once said: "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try."
We live in a world that condones studying business or engineering rather than theater or art. I have nothing against business men and women or engineers; the world couldn't function without them. However, the world also couldn't function without writers, musicians, artists, actors, etc. You can't see a play on Broadway without the people who were brave enough to study musical theater. You can't see your favorite musician perform if they weren't brave enough to risk it all and go after their dream. The world wouldn't have news or cheap entertainment about Kim Kardashian if 'crazy' people like me didn't study journalism. The world wouldn't have a lot of things if people didn't go into a certain line of work. To the people working in a certain field: are you happy? If you're happy working in business or engineering, I'm happy for you. However, if you're not and you're only doing it for the salary, well... I understand we can't just quit our six-figure job and travel and move to an island or travel the world like some people, but what would you do if you didn't have a responsibility or care in the world? If you could do anything, what would you do?
To all the big dreamers out there...
The world isn't quite suited for you. I hate to break it to you, but the world is not an easy place for someone who actually wants to be a princess, astronaut, or president of the United States. The world doesn't want you to stand out and be different because you are a threat to society. You risk ruining the realistic world we live in. You risk stirring up a frenzy by making people believe they can actually live up to their full potential and follow their dreams.
Reality check: the world is hard and it's not suited for people who want to live a life that is anything but creative, interesting, and wild. Reality check: people are going to try and knock you down and tell you that you can't do something because it's unrealistic or crazy or stupid. Reality check: people are going to try and knock you down and sometimes it's going to work. You just have to be strong enough to get back up. Reality check: you are probably going to question your decisions or way of thinking every now and then. You are probably going to question why you can't be like everyone else and dream realistically. I find myself doing this nearly every day. However, we were all born to do something different. We can't all be doctors because then there wouldn't be any actors to entertain us on our television after a long day at work. We can't all be musicians because then there wouldn't be any teachers teaching our children or police officers keeping us safe.
We were all born to do something different. We were all born with a passion. We were all born with the potential to do something great. How we live up to that potential is our own decision.
