Sometimes the question "what did you want to be when you were a kid?" is obnoxious. In the question, there seems to be an implication that once you are no longer a child, you become disconnected from the ideas and the self you were at that time. I don't remember there being a statute of limitation on ideas/aspirations/dreams from childhood....right?
Do we stop dreaming, changing, and wanting to be something else when we are adults? Does being one thing for a longer period of time mean we can never be anything else? I get the root of the question - what did your beautiful, untainted, open mind want to be before it was tarnished by "the rules," "the man," and society? by disappointments, diversions and demands?
I change my ideas, values and perceptions of myself and my place in the world now just like I did then. I am still just as much a learner and explorer as I was, the topics have just changed in depth, breadth, and coverage. Maybe not everyone is a rule breaker. Not everyone sees rules as suggestions, not laws. Maybe I'm lucky to have this part of myself still alive and healthy. If so, I am great-full. (I dislike the true spelling of that word, it does not seem to convey the same meaning as when I spell it like that. I'm not happy I have a whole lot of grated something, I am full of a feeling of GREATNESS.)
Here is my attempt to chronologically list "what I wanted to be when I was little" -
grades Pre K - 3
tap dancer
baby nurse
colorer
teacher
beautician
grades 4-8
marine biologist
spy
writer
journalist
mad scientist
grades 9-12
skate boarder
break dancer
biologist
writer
pianist
environmental scientist
mathmetician
college
accountant
english professor
volunteer (seriously, as a job, forever unpaid!)
writer
world saver
teacher
farmer
Nun (buddhism kick, short lived)
yogi
post college
farmer
volunteer
world saver
teacher
writer
librarian
In comparison, here is who or what I actually "was" throughout my life -
grades Pre K - 8
student
writer
journalist (AWFUL. I wrote a gossip/fashion column in the 8th grade class newspaper - ha!)
tap dancer
track runner (hurdles, ya!)
babysitter
volunteer
grades 9-12
student
writer
journalist (co-wrote an article on the new mall construction, big time news in high school)
actor
pianist (2 yrs)
tennis player
cashier
babysitter
telemarketer
volunteer
college
student
student worker
volunteer
file clerk
telemarketer
student leader/program manager
writer
teacher
post college
community garden director
farmer
non profit worker
writer
journalist
teacher
editorial intern, editorial assistant, assistant editor
cashier
undercover spy!
student
librarian
Kind of neat to see my evolution so simplified. To know I can be merely those words, and fit into tidy labels.
That's awesome you could remember some of those things you wanted to be when you were growing up :) I sort of remember veterinarian, environmental activist and horseback rider - or something like that.
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