*Disclaimer: without all the mentors in my life, Mom included, I wouldn’t be where I am today, cuddled up in my bed and comfortably typing away at this keyboard. Because of them, the freezer is full of food, a guitar rests by my side, there are clothes in the closet and a brain is full of memories and ideas. #Blessed
Full
The mind of a youth is perhaps the most sacred medium the Artist can get his hands on. It is free from impurities and as sensitive to stimulation as a balloon is to the tip of a needle; the slightest pressure unleashes the pressure within. The youthful mind can become a Mozart, a Doogie Houser, a Professor Snape, a Lady Gaga (if I can teach my tone-deaf roommate to sing…). All it needs is a dream, a vision of the future.
Childhood was great. I am thankful of the opportunity I had to travel to Boston just for the day to get bagels and lobsters (at the time I was extremely particular about the sensations I introduced into my mouth). Mom worked for the airlines, and this allowed us to fly all around the US to visit relatives during the Thanksgiving, Easter and summer vacations. For high school graduation, my brother and I were treated to a first-class, 777 journey across the pond. I remember eating pizza on the carpet of Mom’s friend’s flat and sipping a variety of beers with Bro in front of the televised soccer match. After the first sip, I remember asking myself, “how does Dad drink this stuff?” A few more sips later, I lost the sensation of the beer and the pizza.
Soccer shoes, video games and Wrigley’s Doublemint gum were never in short supply Nor were the cases of Coca Cola, Sprite and Dr. Pepper and rolls of Mentos. A friend in middle school enjoyed coming over to my house to play because he could have all the candy he wanted at our house. I wonder if he liked my friendship or the candy more.
One could say I had it all growing up in the lower-middle class. Friends, clothes, clean oxygen, toys, shelter, soccer teams, food, education, medical care, music lessons, discounted airfare (the secret to reducing the wait at the security is to being undressing and unpacking while waiting in the queue so that once your at the conveyor belt all you have to do is drop your belongings into the bins – why stand around complaining about how long the line is?).
But looking back, there was one thing missing: the dream.
Hungry
I never had the “I want to be a doctor” or “I am going to be a pilot” clear-cut vision. Growing up, life was a series of ‘someone is telling me to do something, therefore I do – no questions.’ Coaches, Dad, teachers, Mom, Bro, Aunts, Paw Paw, Uncles. Mentors are important in life as they can help you avoid danger and help you make decisions. When it comes down to it, life is just a bunch of decisions.
Perhaps the lack of the dream, a focal point, is why it was difficult for me to ever decide on what I wanted to do with my life. I was told I needed to get good grades. So I got good grades. I was told I should go to college. So I went there. Deciding to be pre-med was a decision I thought my parents would have been happy with. I majored in Chinese because my advisor thought it was a good idea since I wanted to take Chinese every year.
So there it was. My first taste of a logical, put-together dream: become a doctor that can speak Chinese and live in a big city so you can serve both the English and Chinese populations. A pretty good ad-hoc dream, but the foundation was lacking because the dream was not my own. It was and it wasn’t my parents’. It was theirs because it was what I had thought they would have wanted. It wasn’t because they never thought it. Mom actually didn’t want me to become a doctor because she saw the struggle Aunt went through.
Additionally, the dream may have perhaps been a decade late. I wonder how things would have turned out had I at the age of 8 wanted to become a doctor. Maybe I would be a doctor by now flying back and forth between China and the US (Mom always said to marry someone that works for the airlines. (You see? Mom again telling me what I should do.))
Nonetheless, it’s always the perfect time to dream. Although going to medical school has not panned out (always avoid the word ‘never’), I became interested enough in medicine to dive into the world of nutrition, fitness and well-being. Perhaps I wouldn’t have worked for a biohacking company had I not been pre-med. From the biohacking community, I learned about neurogenesis and how we have the ability to make new brain cells. The fact that our brain has the ability to regenerate reinforces my belief that now is the time to dream even if I didn’t have one when I was young.
Satiated
We are living in the dreamworlds of many. Henry Ford dreamed of people driving cars rather than traveling by horse-drawn carriage. Steve Jobs dreamed of people with white headphones buried deep into pockets. Moms dreamed of their kids swimming in the Olympics. Dads dreamed of their kids singing on the stage of America’s Got Talent.
Elon Musk dreams of populating Mars and iterating on Ford’s dream with electric cars and underground tunnels. Kim Jung Un dreams of nuclear weapons, LeBron James of NBA championships, YouTube singers of becoming the next Justin Bieber. Biotech companies dream of the next blockbuster cure.
Did Jack Dorsey dream of double-sized Tweets or what is a dream of the users? I dream of the millions of Twitter users becoming their own New York Times or Wall Street Journal once Dorsey gives the green light for the no-limit tweet. What would Trump say then?
Dreams are all around you.
It is okay if you didn’t have a dream when you were young. There is plenty of life to be lived for the Artist.
Dream now. Happy New Year.
hw
