whether it's an astronaut, policeman, scientist, princess or teacher, kids have been answering the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" question forever. i remember wanting to be a dancer or a back-up singer. ask my friend tanya what we used to do in her apartment and she'd smile and say: we put on our go go outfits (white boots and all), stand in front of the mirror in her living room, put on loud music and dance. we were practicing for the go go cages that were going to be in our club - the pussy cat club. you gotta love 10 year olds!
and if you track my life, i have always wanted that club. i loved being a dancer in the ballet school i went to every day after school, i also loved being part of broadway musicals as an audience member, i completely loved going to studio 54 and dancing until all hours of the morning, but the truth is - i can be just as happy cranking up the music and dancing again in the living room (with or without the white boots).
what strikes me is how many adults are now asking themselves this very same question about what they want to be. have we ventured far from our childhood passions and we're trying to get them back or are we just prioritizing our lives differently? it's a great opportunity to get back to who you wanted to be.
wwcd: dust off those old white boots and turn up the music
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ReplyDeletefrom aunt judy:
ReplyDeleteI would love to dust off the old white boots and crank up the music and dance....BUT somehow something has changed....I'm sending the message down to my feet....DANCE......something has happened....the memories want to be replayed, the music is on and the memories say for goodness sake, why the hell aren't your legs moving? sometimes, for some of us, there is a short circuit........the back says, "don't u dare".......the legs say, "don't even think about it"......the heart says, "are u for real?"
I don't recall being on a dance floor in a very long time....my kitchen floor gets all the action. I use the music to exercise ...holding on to the kitchen sink, up and down go the legs, side kick, side bend, and so on. Of course I suppose, I could put on the old white boots, but I don't think it's quite the same...
For me the fun part is that childhood idea had no limitation related to whether this went with that or what was required. I could be a fashion designer if I was making clothes out of leaves for my stick figure dolls. I could be a secret agent spy walking down my street with a notebook, "taking note" of all the important details... These could happen on 2 consecutive days and it never mattered that I hadn't a clue what it would take to be those things "when I grew up."
ReplyDeleteNow grown up, I never have been one thing, and the great blessing is that finally I can truly cherish and revel in the "being" part ... rather than the defining of that being... role playing is fun for stretching the imagination and the muscles. That need never stop!
Thanks for this fun post, Casper!