Get Your Head Out Of The Clouds | megansspace

While recently on Facebook, I came across something called the 30 day photo challenge. During the challenge you post pictures of your life based on what number day you are on. It seemed like a fun way to document parts of my life so I made a new photo album and started adding pictures. I was posting photos regularly, and then I got to day 15 which stated to post: A picture of something you want to do before you die. Well I wanted to do so much that it was impossible to choose just one picture, but as I thought about the possibilities I became somewhat discouraged.

What did I want to do before I die? I want to drive across the country from Pennsylvania to California for the experience, but with gas prices skyrocketing it might be cheaper just to fly. I want to be a full time writer for a year, but how will I make ends meet? I want to become a professional artist, but who will buy my work? These are just some of the many ideas that came to mind, but all of them had a major drawback to them. Why couldn't I just get over the but's at the end of my ideas? Because the ideas weren't realistic. That, is a sad realization

To realize that we live in a society where we censor our ability to dream because we fear instability is devastating, and actually pursuing a dream that others deem unreachable is terrifying. Therefore most of us don't even try in the first place. Instead we have dreams of living comfortable lives, and making enough money to provide for ourselves and our family. That is what the majority of our dreams boil down to. The fear of trying and failing is becoming too much, especially in an unstable society. People would much rather be comfortable, so they settle.

I don't want to be someone that settles, but the idea of having to scrounge to pay bills, or not being able to provide for my family is not something I'm willing to risk. It seems that following your dreams has become conditional. Though parents will still tell their children they can do whatever they put their minds to, and they should always follow their dreams, are parents unintentionally setting their children up for disappointment? I'd hate to see the saying 'follow your dreams' edited to be 'follow your realistic dreams', but in world where stability is key, where is the room to dream?