In A Matter Of Opinion

Ever since we were little, we had a list of choices to make: pb&j or ham and cheese; pig tails or braids; play Barbies or build a fort.  All these decisions were based off of what we truly wanted at the moment.  We chose what we wanted and did what we wanted and enjoyed that.  We didn't care whether or not our neighbor was wearing pig tails or not- we decided our hair and played the day away.

As we grew older, our choices changed.  Hot or cold lunch; to use a straightener or curling iron; to go to the dance with the guy in seventh period or go with your friends.  Where along the way did we lose sight of the decisions we truly wanted and instead, replaced them with the decisions that others wanted for us?

Senior year and even a little of my junior year, I was being nagged with where I wanted to go to school.  Everyone seemed to just need to gush about their school and hope their glory days could somehow influence mine that were to come.  When I voiced that I wanted to be a writer (yes, for a profession) I received invited (and some not) input on what schools had the best program for Creative Writing, what I should consider for my degree that I could "probably find some way to incorporate writing into", even the courageous folk that would give me the half-smile/grimace and inform me that most writers don't make enough money to sustain a normal lifestyle.  (Because, after all, you should pick your passions based on money, right?)

Three years after graduation, I still get the surprised glances when I tell people I chose to nanny and do classes online instead of going to a "real college" and getting a "real job". I then remind them that Creative Writing has been my passion since the age of three and my nannying gig has lasted me these last few years since my high school graduation and I've managed to buy my own car (with cash), move into an apartment with a friend, paying for all my own food, insurance, gas, rent, and utilities ON MY OWN.  Looks like this "real job" is, in fact, a REAL job.

When did we as a culture stop valuing the differing opinions of the individual and start trying to fit us all into the same boring, American mold?  Instead of letting people voice their opinions, desires and decisions then heaping your own opinions, desires and decisions onto that, rejoice in other's uniqueness and passions.  Encourage them down their own path.  If we all had the same desires, goals and objectives in life, we'd be a rather boring and closed-minded America.  Diversity and differing of opinions is what builds a society and allows us all to be the individuals God created and intended for us to be.

End rant.

xo