Childish Aspirations

We all had them. The inevitable “I wanna be fill-in-the-blank when I grow up!” Some were funny, some realistic, and the majority outrageously and wondrously fantastical.

When I was five, I wanted to be a ballerina. But not just any ballerina. I wanted to be the first ballerina in space. Yes, your humble hostess wanted to be a ballerinaut. I had no idea how to achieve that. I lived in a remote area where there were no dance schools and no where near NASA. But I still had that dream. And that one wasn’t the weirdest, either. For a brief time, I wanted to raise exotic fish, which sounds pretty normal until you find out I lived in a mountainous area and the only exotic fish I knew was Flipper (yes, I know Flipper was a mammal, but he was a fish to a five-year-old). There was also the time I wanted to be a wood worker, like one of the neighbors. It was magical to watch him take a raw piece of lumber and make a baseball bat (could have been a billy club, for all I know. It was a rough neighborhood!). Oh, and I won’t bore you with the details of being a car recycler.

It’s funny, but looking back now, some of those wishes are not as impossible as they used to seem. Sure, I will never be a ballerinaut, but I know that even here in the hinterlands there is a market for exotic fish. As for reclycling cars (yes, I thought of doing stuff like that when I was 13), that is actually a thing now. And though it took me several decades and it’s not exactly wood working, I now do furniture restoration. Learning the different types of woods and how to restore them has been not just educational, but fun. Having those childish aspirations should be goals, not just dreams. I do believe it is your psyche trying to guide you towards maturity, giving you hints as to your hidden talents. So don’t ignore the little voice in your head reminding you of your aspirations. It’s your conscience trying to steer you towards your happiness. 😉