The working world...

When one is young they develop great plans for themselves. Dreams and visions of what one will be are not limited by practicality and reality. A little boy can imagine himself as a famous baseball player or the next super hero. A little girl might want to become a prima ballerina or a fairy tale princess. They are dreams that come out of one’s imagination. I love imagination. I am still not convinced that make believe worlds where wizards exist or where time travel is possible are indeed not real. I believe though that the average person eventually makes their way to reality. They stop living in foolish folly and realize that they are going to be an accountant or pharmacist in order to make a living. I tried for a brief while to create the pretense as though I too had returned to reality. I planned to be a nurse and then graduated with a business degree. However, I don’t actually believe that I ever stopped living in a world of fantasy. At any given time there will be a romantic story of adventure and excitement occurring inside my day dreams. Honestly, I refuse to accept the fact that I have to enter the working world and become boring.

Thus as the time to find a job has approached, I have taken to thinking about what it is I would like to do. It took me a long time, but I have finally realized that I want to continue living in a fantasy land. Therefore, I want to be a teacher where day after day I am surrounded by the innocent and imaginative minds of children. I want to read them stories of children who find a world inside of a wardrobe or of an elephant who discovers a tiny little village within a speck of dust! So for now, I realize that I want to be a nanny. Yes, a nanny. I want to take care of children who are still hopeful that there are mermaids in the sea or that believe rats really can cook! I want to spend my day playing dress up and exploring the back yard. I want to go to the zoo and be there to witness the excitement as they see the lions roar and the rhinos roll around in the mud. Though the animals don’t actually talk and the penguins aren’t really dancing, within the imagination, the world we live in is not limited by anything.

So here I begin to not grow up, but to keep on living in make believe.