Sometimes I hear or read some one’s opinion that telling kids they can do whatever they want or be whatever they choose is a bad idea. That not everyone can be a superstar athlete or a mathematician. Well of course not everyone is cut out for those jobs, however, I think it’s more of the adult’s cynical reaction to their own disappointments that have them insisting it’s not good for the children.
I spent quite a lot of time when I was younger dreaming about being the president, being the first woman in major league baseball, or being a teacher. Guess what, soon enough I realized my interests were not in line with future presidential interests, I didn’t have the patience to be a lawyer, I wasn’t good enough at baseball, and even though I love books, I didn’t want to own a bookstore after all. But I didn’t know that you could be an artist. I didn’t even know I liked art enough to do it for a living. I thought it was just something to do when I couldn’t go play.
The point is that kids can figure out what they are good at/what they enjoy doing with out adults crushing all their imaginings. It’s sad that we can’t even let kids dream about being something outrageous. It’s make believe, it’s exploring possibilities, it’s putting ourselves in a role and seeing if it fits. That’s part of growing up and decision making, it’s also fostering imagination. I don’t think anyone wants to be whatever they want. They want to be what they are good at, what they enjoy.
Of course we can’t all have the longevity of Da Vinci, but I don’t necessarily want that. Sure I dream of it, but I just want to be the best artist I can be. I want to enjoy my own way of being an artist. That doesn’t mean I can’t or shouldn’t dream. I want to push the limits, I want to challenge not only what other people think I can be, but also what I think I can be. That’s how progress is made. Plus who is to say we aren’t good at something. Many major people in history had someone tell them they weren’t good at something they went on to blow people’s minds. Einstein, not good at math, King C’s in speech, Manet was laughed out of galleries and Socrates was sentenced to death.
I say, why crush dreams before they have even started. Not to mention all the mid-life career changes, the ability or opportunity to connect things we have learned, every one’s path is different. Maybe someone needs to go to school to be a lawyer only to realize she wants to help under privileged children and it just so happens the skills she learned in becoming a lawyer first help her more than she dreamed possible. People need to relax and I am going to tell my kids they can be what ever they want because it’s their path, not mine.
