I wanna be a dreamer
When I grow up
As children, we are told to follow our dreams. Time after time, we are asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
As we grow and explore our true selves, we often face challenges and experiences that drive us toward a different path. A path that may feel more natural, more free and less constrained by overpowering expectations. This doesn't come without facing the judgement and the pressure to succumb to the 9 to 5 grind culture to make ends meet, to pay off student loans for a job we now feel stuck in.
I call this the dream-smooshing experience.
I can still remember the first time someone made my dreams feel less than valuable.
The moments that stick with us
Let’s take a trip back in time, shall we? I’m in third grade – freckle-faced with my light-up Skechers and Tinker Bell lunchbox. I walked through life with optimism, curiosity and a love for sharing my dreams with those around me.
I learned at this young age that being vulnerable with your dreams comes with a price – that some people are big, mean, dream smooshers.
My biggest passion at the young age of 9 was dance. I lived for the life of dance – from learning the choreography, to the costumes, to getting dressed up for recital night with bright blue eyeshadow and hideous red lipstick. I felt unstoppable. Unbreakable.
I often wrote in my homework assignments about dance. About how I dreamed of becoming an instructor and owning my own studio one day.
When the time for parent-teacher conferences rolled around, my mom came home with my report card. I could tell she wasn’t happy. She explained that it wasn’t my grades that upset her, but the conversation she had with my dream-smooshing teacher. Let’s call her Ms. Smoosh.
Apparently Ms. Smoosh had told my mom that she was “sick and tired of hearing about dance.” And that I, a 9-year-old girl, needed more hobbies. My mother then proceeded to tell me that she never wants me to lose my passion because someone so small-minded doesn’t understand me.
Unbreakable
I carry this lesson with me in my adult life. I am now a 26-year-old woman. I no longer dance at recitals with bright blue eye shadow and shimmering, sequined costumes, but I still dance. I dance my way through life, with big dreams that no Ms. Smoosh can take from me.
These dreams of my future bring me peace, joy and that feeling of once again being unbreakable. This is your reminder to rekindle that flame with your inner child and set your dreams free once more.
