Earlier this year I was outside on a sunny yet chilly day, trudging about 50' behind my husband as part of his "New Year's resolution 1-hour walk per day" proclamation. My iPod was blasting in my ears. Had my "work-out" playlist blaring. (It usually keeps my feet moving - albeit not as fast as my 6'2" husband with mile long legs...but I digress). There's some great rocking tunes with screaming guitars on my playlist but I found I really got moving during certain songs.
So as I was jogging along my mind wandered (as it sometimes does at times like those) and I started thinking about when I was younger ... I heard my first female rocker. I wanted to be the next-big-thing girl rock star. Like ... Janis Joplin. Pat Benetar. Joan Jett, Lita Ford (or any one of the Runaways). Suzi Quattro. (I'd even have settled for a semblance of the feisty Dolly Parton or Tammy Wynette.) I wanted to write great songs filled with musings, romance, conflict and angst. Like Karla Bonoff and Joni Mitchell and Loretta Lynn. Ah, dreams! And impossible fantasies.
Thought about where I am today. The vast differences in the lifestyle of my mid-life self and the rocker fantasy of my youth. What twists and turns kept me from being one thing and led me to a polar opposite life. A good life. A happy, loving one.
I went down the home and family road. Gave up my single, waif little self and morphed into pleasingly plump Wife. Mom. And now grandmother. Set up house in urban suburbia. Graduated college after I had my kids (so I was a wee bit untraditional for some things!) Went the business route. Worked 9-5.
And gave up my childhood dreams. Well, sort of. I still love my music. Never packed away my albums and 8-track tapes. Autographed posters and signed 8x10 framed glossies of famous performers adorn my walls. You'll still find me at concerts, though I've moved to a comfy chair in the back of the room. (These old bones aren't what they used to be!) And of course, I got involved on a local level by being on the board of directors for the RI Music Hall of Fame.
How about you? What was YOUR dream? What did you want to be when you grew up? However, if you happen to not be growed up yet ... what's your goal? Come on, you can tell me ... I won't tell anyone.
