How Did You Imagine Yourself?

Last night I met up with some friends to play trivia at the Cascade Room. Turns out they weren’t doing it last night (and won’t be for a couple more weeks). We ended up staying and just chatting over drinks. The place was packed the whole time we were there – first by those just getting off work and then another rush came just as we were leaving. Pretty cool for a Monday night.

One of our conversation topics that we kept on returning to was what did you imagine yourself doing by the time you were the age that you are now? No one is doing the same thing as what they imagined as a kid, which is to be expected I guess. As you get older your perception on life and what you want out of it changes with new experiences.

What did I want to be doing by the time I was 23?

I never really thought about it growing up. I had wisps of thoughts, but nothing too concrete. I know I went through phases of wanting to be a teacher, probably more out of the most amazing grade 3 teacher possible than actually wanting to teach kids things. At one point I wanted to be a ballerina (why else would I dedicate 20+ hours a week to the studio?!), but I came to realize its not a sustainable way of living – one injury and you’re screwed. I also saw myself as being a violin teacher, something I was actually working towards too, otherwise, I wouldn’t have picked up the piano and taken all those music history and harmony exams.

I knew I didn’t want to be a boomerang kid – leave for school and then move back home. Guess I failed there. I have vivid memories of my parents teasing my youngest uncle when he did that. I always thought being in your 20s was SO old, that I would mature and classy. Knowing what I wanted from life….

I envisioned myself living alone, in my own apartment, decorated to the nines. Probably without a pet – wasn’t allowed any growing up and didn’t see myself getting one on my own. If I did, it probably would have been a dog, not a cat! I would be a big reader – I loved books as a kid. I guess in a way I still read a lot, just not of books. The internet is much too interesting. I saw myself still dancing and still playing music.

But wow, reality is so different. Everyone I was talking to last night were older than I was by a couple of years, but I felt so young all of a sudden. I’m still figuring out what I want to do and be in the upcoming years. I’ve been feeling a bit lost lately, moving home, no job, in a new city, living differently from the past years. I’ve been trying a bunch of different things, trying to figure out what I want. What do I want to do by the time I’m 25?

What do you dream of? What do you want to do when you grow up?

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