As I type this I’m watching an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary called “The Price of Gold”. It’s all about the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan brouhaha. I’ve always been a figure skating fan. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill.
I had a pink skating dress my sister sewed for me. There were matching pink pom-poms on my skates. I had the ‘Hamill Wedge’ haircut, and I used Short ‘n Sassy shampoo, just like Dorothy. I spent all my spare time at the Four Seasons ice rink.
Then they decided the convert the ice arena to a fitness center.
Goodbye dream.
The best thing about dreams is that you can conjure a new one.
In high school I wanted to be a rich, ruthless business woman who chewed men up and spit them out like Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowen from Dynasty.
I graduated from college and moved to Chicago, but by then I’d left Alexis behind and re-calibrated. I wanted to be Melanie Griffith from Working Girl. After all, she got Harrison Ford in the end.
Everything we do in life starts as a dream. A wisp of ambition takes form. An idea germinates and grows. I’ve chased quite a few dreams in my life, but none have been as challenging as the dream of pursuing a writing career.
I’ve been going through a period of reflection and assessment. It has been the least productive few months I’ve had in five years. Things change, life gets in the way, and distractions sometimes get the better of me. I’m working on being okay with that. I’m also hauling my butt back to the gym and trying to take note of the positive things in my life.
How about you? What dreams are you chasing? Are you attempting to do anything differently this year?
Do you have pictures of the pink skating dress and pom-pom skates? Because I want to see them immediately. I bet you were an adorable skater. I took skating lessons when I was a little girl. The song we skated to at our year-end show was Singin’ in the Rain. I remember skating ’round and ’round in circles and trying not to fall. That was essentially the choreography.
I’m so impressed by the elite athletes of the world, but few impress me more than professional skaters. The things they can do with their bodies, and the risks they take every time they step on the ice just astounds me. I never wanted to be a skater, though. Nope. This girl had her heart set on making the Olympic soccer team instead. And if not soccer, volleyball would do.
But then life….
Well, it took me on several unexpected twists and turns and my dreams changed. Nowadays I dream of landing a coveted contract position in teaching. I dream of finding a partner in crime who I can spend my life (and have lots of babies) with. I dream of buying my own home and building an entire room devoted to ping-pong, air hockey, pool, and darts. Don’t even get me started on the ‘music room’. I dream of being able to write a best-selling novel, but just finishing a full-length novel would be incredible for me.
I’m focusing on the positives this year, as always, but now that I’m living in a new place, far away from home, I’m trying harder than ever to put myself out there. I want to take more chances this year. I want to meet new friends, make new connections, and learn new things. In fact, one of my goals this year is to try to improve my French skills now that I’m next-door neighbours to Quebec. Above all else, I want to be happy and healthy so I’ll continue to lead an active life and do the things that make me happy. 🙂
And now that I’ve written a novella, I’ll be on my merry little way.
First off I love you for the Alexis from Dynasty comment. That alone makes you aces in my book.
I had dreams when I was younger. After a summer in the great outdoors with the Youth Conservation Corp I made my major in College, biology. I was going to be a Park Ranger. Commune with Smoky the Bear. But college wasn’t for me. The grades that came so easy for me in HS were now nothing to write home about. I felt like a fish out of water and I wasn’t even that far from home. Imagine if I had moved away.
Life takes us in many directions and mine was towards marriage, kids, home ownership, and being the best pizza maker this side of the Pacos (okay not quite.)
My dreams today are simple. I want my kids to be happy. I want to continue to see first hand my grand daughter growing up, and to be an active part of that. To have family and friends around me that I love, oh, and to have my dining room table remain clean.
When I was younger I battled to be either Marie Osmond or Dorothy Hamill. I as well had the shampoo and cut. What a great PR person she must of had. LOL
Of course I would do a little pretending I was Cher too but only when I had a towel wrapped around my head. You see the towel would reach my waist and I would toss my towel around like I was tossing my long hair like Cher.
Today my dreams are simple; happiness, health and contentment. I want my kids to be happy, content and successful in whatever they choose to do. I still have a heavy wish for lots & lots of travelling. Are wishes and dreams the same thing? Hmm, there is something to ponder.
Also if I could win the lottery, that would be just awesome.
And Melanie didn’t look bad vacuuming either. Harrison Ford *swoon*…sorry, what were we talking about here?