What do You Want to be When you Grow up?

A question that's not just for kids anymore

Yesterday I was 33. When I woke up this morning I was 57. I don’t know what happened. I thought I had more time to become what I wanted to become. I thought that my childhood dreams were glimpses of my future self, but now I am thinking those dreams were wasted on my youth. A recent Facebook post seemed to agree with me when it asked, "When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up that you never got to be?" Reading the comments, I imagined the commenters little selves typing their answers and feeling a bit like a child passing a toy store that they can never ever go into again. As I saw the dreams long since buried, I wondered if that toy store were really closed to me as well.

That same day I was at the salon getting my fingers done by a woman who I had never met before. She too had lived her life, made her choices, but that wasn’t the end of her story. She had recently decided to do something only young women do, risk it all and go for her dreams. I only know this because I heard her asking her co-worker if he was coming to open mic night. Those three words sent my heart to fluttering. See, I have a love affair with microphones. Always have. You can use them for singing, acting, teaching, preaching, all the things that I love. I had to know more. Turns out she was doing open mic comedy night, apparently a thing. Who would have thought there would be a place that would give you five minutes to see if you could make people laugh with the expectation that you probably wouldn’t but the graciousness to say that’s okay.

Walking out of that salon, I was 30 years old again and asking myself, (thanks to Tati K), “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Because apparently the toy store isn’t closed to me like I thought, and dreams and microphones may still be reached. Maybe I’ll try open mic night, you wanna join me?

It wasn’t long after the salon incident that Facebook told me something else about dreams: Did you know that Julia Child didn’t get her first cooking show until she was 51. And Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76. Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78. And, Morgan Freeman landed his first major movie role at age 52. If they weren’t too old to take on the next new thing (to them), maybe I’m not either. So how about it? What do you want to be when you grow up? Because I’m guessing, if it doesn’t involve going beyond your physical limitations, then you might just be able to try it on for size. I don’t think I’ll ever be a famous comic, but I can still live the dream. Age doesn’t exclude us from reaching beyond ourselves. It doesn’t mean we have to stop growing, stop learning, stop working, or stop dreaming. You’re never too old to do the next new thing (to you), so just do it!

If you’ve read this far, thank you! Below are 3 buttons. Your clicks and responses on these are HUGELY helpful in attracting new readers. I also love them! I’m trying to make this newsletter a way people can get my content, since bookstores have all but left us. I need your help. Please share this post with friends and if you haven’t already, consider subscribing. It’s like having money, the more subscribers I have, the more subscribers I can get!