The laughter of a child (or When I grow up, I wanna be a systems analyst)

January 23, 2008 - Wednesday

In the past few days, my aunt and uncle have been sending me great old photos of me, my sisters and my cousins. My profile photo is me and Laura at their old house.

When I look at those photos it's hard to believe we are the same people. I try to think back at what I wanted to be when I grew up. I used to always tell my dad I wanted to be a lawyer just to piss him off. I get a good laugh about that now that I want to be a law librarian.

What I wonder is how much of what we want as children translates into drive and ambition as adults. Many times in life these desires and dreams are beaten out of our heads as we grow and are told what we can and can't do. (Some might disagree, but regardless of talent and intelligence, everyone has come up against someone or something that has made them think they could not do everything they want.)

Do these situations change our dreams or do our ambitions change as we grow? What about the dreams we tell no one about? Do those ever have the chance to grow and change or do they live a childhood existence in our adult heads? And if that is the case, does that make us deluded or optimistic?

I think many of us let our desires fall to the side as other things come along and as we "grow up." It's not to say that we let go but that we just let them fade with all the other priorities. I want to look at my dreams with the eyes of a child. Anything is possible, right?