“What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreamin’ – this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin’.” ‘Pretty Woman’ (1990)
I popped on some music yesterday, whilst trying to write, and ended up getting all nostalgic. I started to think about the dreams I had for my career and my life back when I was a teen and how different they are from what I want now… and yet, with the wisdom of hindsight, how flaming obvious it was that what I’m doing now was always ‘there’, like the shy girl at the prom, waiting to be noticed.
These days we’re constantly barraged with messages that what we want is to be rich and famous and if we get these things all our problems go away and, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, many believe it. But finding and nurturing a dream – whether it is of a career, family, lifestyle – is, I think, important and finding the right dream for us and the path that will lead us to happiness and fulfilment is something we should do carefully.
Of course it’s not always obvious, even when we get older and allegedly wiser, what we would be happiest doing… let me give you an example.
Dream a little dream for me…
Three friends in their mid-teens do what they always do on a weekend. They visit each-others houses. Like most teenage girls, these visits involve sweets, caffeine, films, make-up and much talk about boys and music. Unlike many teenagers though, the make-up is usually theatrical in nature, the films are being made on a battered old Hi-8 camera and music is often being composed on an electrical keyboard. But let us get back to the point.
This particular weekend they have an idea for a film, but it involves something they can’t possibly muster… a cast! So one of the group, who desperately wants to be an actress/film director, suggests animating it. This one of the trio has spent a lot of time messing about making animations with the little camera and dreams of getting her own video camera one day with better functions for making stop-motion. Despite this it has never occurred to her that she wants to be anything but the next Steven Spielberg.
The next friend says that she will pen the script for this weekends film, she has written several scripts (mainly horror movies) for these ventures before. This girl passionately wants to be a make-up artist when she gets older, hopefully in the film industry, but she does spend a lot of time making up stories rather than faces.
The last of the trio, who unlike the other two does not want to work in the creative industries but instead sees her future as an academic, sets to work creating some music and sound effects to go with the film. She has studied piano nearly all her life, penned a musical in her spare time and often spends time composing at home but sees herself eventually becoming a university professor.
Now how many of this trio do you think works in the profession they claimed so fiercely that they wanted to work in? None! Unsurprisingly, the ‘make-up artist’ is a successful novelist, the ‘academic’ works in the music industry and the ‘actress’ works in animation. Bet you didn’t see that coming! You did? They didn’t!
A dream is a wish your heart makes…
Of course, these girls dreams did not develop in a vacuum. They were the result of what they had learnt, not just about the professions but also about the world and themselves, and were probably more closely associated with getting away from what they were then developing an art form and profession.
Perhaps what I’m trying to say here –if I’m trying to say anything – is that you shouldn’t listen to external influences when it comes to your dreams or even always trust your ego. Instead, I would suggest, finding out what makes you feel good. If you feel fulfilled when you draw or paint then do more of it and see where it leads. If helping someone gives you a buzz then keep on and find a path in that. It doesn’t have to be a dream job, it could be a hobby or lifestyle as long as when you reach your dream you find contentment there.
No matter your age, gender, race or circumstances, you can still find a dream that makes you happy.
Crazy Cat Girl's Arty Adventures 