Spring is here and the dandelions have taken our neighborhood by storm. Of course my children love to pick them and blow the fluffy seed tufts into the air. Inevitably, they will bring me one. "Make a wish Mommy!"
I take the stem and blow away the fluff.
"What did you wish for?"
"You know I always wish for the same thing..."
"What?" they ask me coyly. As if they don't know the answer.
"That all my kids' dreams will come true."
Satisfied that our ritual is still in place, they run away smiling.
My wish for my children is that they will have the confidence to pursue their passions. That in spite of the nay-sayers and the 'practical' people they will still have the courage to say, "I want to be an artist/actress/author/photographer/filmmaker/musician when I grow up." That when faced with the high-school guidance counselors' doom and gloom statistics on anyone without an engineering or law degree my children will clearly see themselves as the exception.
I want them to dream big and boldly, without limitations or fear. I want them to know that the only thing capable of keeping them from achieving their dreams is their willingness to pursue them. I don't want them to be content relegating their talents to hobbies, or their passions to the weekend. I want their passions to be their life.
We live in a community which seems to draw successful and creative people who have pursued their dreams. Authors and performers, professors and artists, who didn't see providing for a family and pursuing their talents as mutually exclusive. They followed the desires of their hearts.
In a world where success is gaged in terms of wages and investment portfolios, I wish for my children the clarity to define their success by more intangible means. I wish for them personal development, fulfilling relationships, spiritual strength, and realized potential. I wish for them to never have to look back and say, "if only I had tried..."
CC
4 comments:
You're blogging again! Yippee Skippy. You free --money doesn't matter--spirit.
The tooth fairy at our house was always late. She needed a secretary.
Call me a blind optimist but there are people who have both money and happiness. They're not so special...If they can do it why not my kids?
As to having a money-doesn't-matter free spirit, please see my post entitled "Broke." Botox ain't free...
What would you like to be when you grow up? (We still have a ways to go you know...the grown up part.) So, what would you like to be? This is your guidance counselor speaking, and I think your possibilities are endless. You have more talent than you realize. So, realize it. Artist, author, professor, you may have your pick. And I guarantee you will be happy and successful and very rich. But mostly happy. And that is what really matters. (The money is nice too)
Yes, I'm putting off all kinds of things because the future seems so uncertain. And I want to whine about it too. That's what I like about you. Your willingness to whine a little, or even a lot. Also, your willingness to claim your dysfunction. I have many of those same traits and it's good to have company.
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