When I was little, I wanted to be a famous actress and singer. I knew that I would be loved and adored. I even remember riding in the car with my mom and my sister one night, home from school, wondering how my mom felt about "just being a normal person" and not being a celebrity. At the time, I couldn't understand how she bore the weight of disappointment that her anonymity must bring (seriously).
Now, of course, I realize the naivety of that dream. Mainly, I was naive to think that I could be a famous actress and singer when I don't have any talent, especially in the vocal department. But, in all fairness, Barbie never worked for a major home improvement retailer when I dressed her up and made up stories about her, either. There was no Barbie cubicle, complete with overstuffed in-box, whiteboard and coffee ring stains. There were, however, Barbie stages, Barbie microphones, and lots of Barbie gowns. The dreams of the young as molded by Mattel....
I think asking young adults to decide what they want to do with their lives at the age of 19 or 20 is ridiculous. How do they know what they want to do with the next 30 or more years when most young adults haven't even had to do their own laundry? And we want them to pick a career? I think that you shouldn't have to pick your career until you are around 40. By then, you've (more than likely) grown out of the party non-stop phase, so getting to work at 8 am no longer seems like an impossible feat. You have learned about yourself during your 30s, coming to understand your skills, likes, dislikes, etc. Around the age of 40 is when you can wisely make a decision about what to do. Until this point, everything should all be considered "paying research" to help get to that decision.
If I could choose my career now, I would be one of 4 things:
- A soap opera actress (emote a lot and hold a puzzled/mad look for 3 seconds until the camera pans away)
- A counselor (though Matt swears that I would get fired the first time that someone didn't take my advice and I told them how stupid they were being, i.e. "I told you what to do, and if you're not going to listen, then I'm wasting my time." I think he's being a tad harsh.)
- A song lyricist, writing Christian rock songs
- A book reviewer (though, being an "instant gratification" kinda girl, I always read the last couple of pages first, so I never have any surprise)
I guess that somehow I have ended up expressing myself, in the smallest ways, doing things that I love. God is good that way. But if a television studio ever opens in Statesville, looking for soap opera actresses, I'm all over it.