Catching Idle Butterflies

I�m not so original

First came David McClain talking about his dreams, then windac lists her own.

That got me to thinking about my dreams, past, present, and who knows what will happen in the future.

I don't consider myself all that unique when it comes to dreams growing up. Some were pretty outlandish like those many kids have who believe in the impossible, while others, more down to earth, still stick with me.

Astronaut. Though I will never make it in this life, I still long to fly around in space and see everything this universe has to offer. If I had the cash, though, I'd not hesitate to hitch a ride on the so-called "Vomit Comet", the plane NASA uses to give their astronauts a 20-30 minute experience of weightlessness. Add to that a ride on a fighter plane such as a Tomcat or Hornet, now that would be a kick!

Actress. I wrote a poem a long time ago about why I wanted to be one:
         Searching for a dream
                   I may not ever find.
         Dreams found in fairy tales
                   I wish I were a movie star.
So it wasn't the making of the movies, or even the money or fame that intrigued me. It was the opportunity to be someone other than me.

Teacher. This one still hangs around. I've had a few opportunities to substitute teach in college, and I loved it. I am apparently good at it as well. A fellow civil engineering student changed his major to education because he saw how much fun I had teaching others. Kinda cool, huh? I don't desire to become a full-time teacher, though. That's a lot of work. But to teach the occasional night class, that's doable.

Rock star. This one I even worked at a bit with two friends of mine in 10th grade. I could sing, practiced that more and even took a few guitar lessons. I spent most of my time writing lyrics. I had no musical accompaniment, though. I don’t have enough musical background. I still have many of those silly songs, and I intend to post them just for the fun of it. You’ll get a good laugh, if nothing else.

Princess. Just kidding.

Artist. I never expected to turn this into a career, but growing up with an artistic mother (for those of you who don’t know you can see some of her work at http://www.mst3k-fic.com/ ) and having a smidgeon of talent, I did expect to do more of it. I disappointed my high school art teacher when I didn’t go to art school, but I was so sick of school by that point, I wasn’t interested in any college. But that’s another story.

Minister. This wasn’t so much my dream, but many people in my church including my pastor tried to convince me to go to seminary. I fiddled with the idea, but in the end decided not to. Again, it was the whole sick of school thing. I still consider the idea of going to Bible College, not so much to be a minister, but to learn more about scripture. So if I were to do it, it would be to get a degree in biblical studies and nothing else.

Author. I list this last for a specific reason. This was the last dream I had as a youngin’. I didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer, not like some who knew as young as six. Only after people told me I had a gift did I consider the possibility. I was eighteen by then. So as I muddled around with the possibilities, I had the certainty I would someday see my name in print.

But then life took a few surprising turns, and I gave up my dream of authorship. Yet the certainty of my name in print never left. Curious.

I became a land surveyor, and seeing my name in print took on an entire new meaning. I thought “seeing my name in print” meant seeing my signature on legal documents that people hundreds of years from now will see (I still think that's cool).

Until two years ago, I left it at that. Then I picked up writing again. I’m thinking I was right the first time, and that I will see my name on the cover of books, not just on plats and legal descriptions.

I’ve also learned a valuable lesson about dreams.

They don’t come true.

They need to be tackled, punched, kicked and slapped into submission before they'll happen.