The American Dream

Recent experiences in my life (in conjunction with my Saturn's Return) have lead me to wonder deeply why we all follow a standard life pattern like sheep?

We are taught from a young age that we are supposed to go to school, go to college, get the highest possible paying job whether we love it or not, find someone to love, move in with them, get married (not necessarily in that order), and then have kids with them.

Then, if we somehow manage to hold the marriage together until the kids are grown, we wind up with feelings of emptiness, often realize we no longer want to be around our spouse, and have no idea what we are going to do with the rest of our lives. If we're lucky, our kids will soon have their own kids and we can throw ourselves into our grandkids, because its all we have left to put hope into.

What is this? Its the American Dream. Its the program of hundreds of years of progress. Its who we think we are supposed to be, because the TV, our parents, and society tells us so. Why then, are so many of us so terribly unhappy with the very things that were supposed to make us happy?

We are living someone else's dream, not our own.

Every day we go about our lives seeking goals that society has told us we should seek. These are not necessarily things we want for ourselves, even though years of teaching has told us we should. I don't want money. I don't want a large house or an expensive car. I don't want kids, I don't want to be married, and I don't want to live the American dream. None of these things matter to me, all that matters to me is art, spirituality, finding the joy in little things, volunteering, giving, helping others, making the world a better place.

Millions of people push harder and faster every single day to try to achieve something they don't really want. They are grasping at a ghost, and they are driving themselves insane chasing it. The end result is that everyone is unhappy, stressed out, pressed for time, and unfulfilled.

Maybe its time to take a step back and think about what you really want from life. Think about what would really make you happy. Then, cast off doubts and fear and go after it.

An it harm none, do what thou wilt.