Learning From Kids

When I was five years old I told my mom I wanted to be a magical fairy princess. I told her I didn't know exactly what they did but I was willing to learn. Like many children I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be and that was what I wanted as a kid. I watched all the disney movies I could find with princesses in them. I read book after book trying to learn more about what I wanted to become. 

I was taking dance classes at the time and when I got to dress up in my costumes and perform I felt like royalty. As I continued dancing through the years my dreams shifted. I learned that I could not become a magical fairy princess because they were in fact not real. I did feel like I could fly on wings made of magic when I danced however and decided that I would focus on becoming a dancer. I studied different styles of performance, incorporated a number of genres of music into my repertoire. I was sure that I was going to travel the world performing on stages across every continent.

Because of a few physical and one major emotional setback however I did not dedicate as much time and effort to my training and studying of the craft as I should have. I fell away from my dreams and gave up. I hid from the world and the further I moved away from dance the more depressed I became. I turned to a hobby I had had since I was seven as a way of dealing with my concerns.

I would write poems and short stories. As my depression set in I began using it as a means of escape. I would write about the worries I had and change the endings to reflect the way I felt it should have gone in real life. It wasn't clear at the time but writing was beginning to take the place of dance in my life. I still did not work on it or dedicate time to writing the way I should have if I wanted to make it a viable life goal and career choice.

Tonight I was watching the cooking competition Masterchef Junior. These young home cooks are dedicated far beyond anything I could have imagined at their ages. I am now less than a week from reaching my thirty second birthday and just within the last couple years I have finally started focusing more on the career choice. I have been procrastinated for quite some time but I have found inspiration to rededicate myself thanks to the children following their dreams on Masterchef Junior.