Boredom brings me to yet another ponderous moment of philosophy.
Just started working on a logo with the tagline 'Dream it, Dare it, Do it', which got me thinking about life as we know it and its many complexities. There are very few people I personally know who are daring to live out their dreams - most of us just choose the easy or conventional routes and spend a lifetime wondering 'what if'.
Dream, dare and do.... a pretty powerful mantra we could all repeat in our heads, given that it holds quite some relevance to the way we lead our lives.
As a species, we are ruled by fears and trepidations bourne out of a chronology of social norms. If someone else hasn't tried it before, then we sure as hell won't. How often have you actually taken the steps to fly that plane in your fanatasies or take over hollywood? True, the chances of success could be slimmer than an anorexic flatworm, but have you even tried?
There are lots of things I've dreamt of... plenty that I know I can do... but if only I had the guts and conviction to DARE them. I could have been many things I'd dreamt of being in this lifetime, had I followed through on any of them... an actress on broadway, a wildlife veterinarian, a professional ballroom dancer, a travel show host, the Queen of England...
But I never got my act together, and that's a shame. Except for ruling Ol' Blighty, I could have very well cashed in on any of the other choices of career because I have a trainable ability in each art. But I didn't, more out of a fear of failure than anything else. I did what so many of us do- went into my easy comfort zone and knitted myself a nice little coccoon .
Not that I'm complaining. The comfort zone's cool... I'm doing something I love and enjoying the life I have, not to mention dabbling at little bits of my dreams at a smaller, local level. But the potential of what coulda been is so much bigger. It's a shame...
Its about time we stopped wondering about the negative consequences and giving a hoot about what other people might think. Maybe it's time we took that extra step to turn our dreams into reality.
Maybe someday I'll dare it...
Who knows....
2 comments:
Unfortunately this beautiful country is not made to facilitate following certain kinds of dreams.
For one, we are a very small market. That makes it very difficult for one to seriously get involved in arts. You can't make a living being in a band, doing theatre or making movies (maybe unless you cater to a certain mass appeal). So "dream-following" becomes a secondary activity.
The other is the socio-economic norms. We have a set pattern. Finish school and get a job or do some higher studies and get a job; in strict succession. It's not practical to take a year or two off to experiment, explore and experience things to find what you really want to do and try your hand at it.
Yes there is the odd exception, but sadly this is the truth for the vast majority. Sigh.
Daring to be different can mean many things... how limited the scope is differes from one individual to another. Sometimes you need to do what what your heart tells you, irrespective of the consequences, like falling in love, my philosopy is that its better to have dared and failed, than not at all...
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe --
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