Dear Tchaikovsky…

“Dear Tchaikovsky, we have become best friends…” the facebook post simply read, and it moved me to tears.

The status update was made by my friend’s teenage daughter who has recently begun her freshman year in an out-of-state college, over 300 miles away from home. She went there alone, two weeks after all her friends left her for other schools.   Just 18, she has a clearer sense of who she is and what she loves, than most adults I work with.  Lolo, as I like to call her (although it makes her roll her eyes,) is one of the most talented viola players I have ever met.  She is on scholarship at a private college, exploring music and celebrating her passion for all things string.  she is open to adventure and so ready to grow, her energy is bursting through the seams.  She is funny and bright-eyed and thrilled with all of the possibility that lay ahead of her.  She is clear that her future will be written by her own hand, in her own time.

The lessons this 18 year old can teach us are crucial: throw yourself into what you love.  Do it well.  Practice, practice, practice… and then practice some more.  Define what you want.  Know yourself.  Go for it and don’t ask for permission.

Why is it that as “mature adults,” we are so willing to sell out our passions and dreams for security?  Why, when the gas bill comes, do we opt to go to work as an accountant instead of making money doing what we REALLY love?

I think the answer is laziness.  I think that  human beings are not very resilient.  We start out bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, exciting about tasting, touching, seeing, feeling… experiencing everything the world has to offer.  But as time goes on, we are told we are stupid, we can’t do it, we should not, could not, would not… that dreamers don’t get very far.  And, for some reason, we buy it, hook, line and sinker.

It’s time to take a lesson from Lolo: reclaim your dreams. 

Call to action:

Take some time out today to examine your life and shake yourself awake.  What do you regret?  What things do you always wish you would have done?  What is one thing you can do about it now, TODAY, that would put you on the path you desire?