Today is also graduation day for student in my town. I wish them all well! Being 18 today is very different than being 18 in 1985. The world has changed so much that options exist now that weren't easily attainable back then. I remember having a secret fantasy of going to Liverpool or London and starting out on my own, no college, just seeing what would happen. Yeah, right! In the pre-Internet days information was hard to find and the stories of artists and musicians who did escape suburban America to thrive on the other side of the pond were rampant. Punk was over in the UK but still evident in the US. The attitude took a while to really sink in to the suburbs, but hit my generation well in the early 80's. The "You can do anything!" mentality was evident in the way people dressed, thought, and questioned life choices. Being a child in the 70's, the "Women's Lib" movement was firmly entrenched and we girls were raised to think anything was possible. It just was hard to know how to get there.
Now with the Internet there are even more life choices available to people. You could focus your life on studying the bottom of the ocean, outer space, or record the mating habits of water gliders and actually be prepared to do it by the time you were 18. Learning about the world, and all the options within it, is not restricted now to the books found on the library shelf or brochures in the high school Guidance Office. I remember taking a paper and pencil career aptitude test in High School and thinking "Really? That's it?" (but honestly I don't remember what my test showed.) In a way, though, I am glad as having too many choices is not a good thing for my scattered brain. If I were 18 again now, with all the options open, I could envision these career and life choices:
- Working at a parrot refuge in Austrailia, New Zealand, or possibly Brazil
- Going to the Royal Academy of Art in London and living there
- Starting a shelter and animal welfare program in a country that devalues dogs and cats
- Helping poor children in impoverished regions, including using art to help make life better
- Open a killer bead shop
- Being an Egyptologist specializing in beadwork from the early dynasties
- Living in Istanbul just for the fun of it, and for the menu
- Live in New York City (pre-arthritis, of course)
- Travel the world and draw pottery forms from every early civilization
- Write and play music without giving up for other More Important Options
- Live somewhere sunny and warm where air doesn't physically hurt for a good portion of the year
- Opening a bar or cafe with Parrot in the title and having a permanent table in the back for me to use when I take breaks from art making
Of course, if any of these fantasies did happen I would never have known the happiness and satisfaction of doing what I now do with my days. I'm very grateful for the way things have turned out over the last 30 years. Well, most things. It is fun to think about what could have been and muse on what life would be like now had different choices been made. I'ts even more fun to realize that despite all the grand aspirations listed above, I am glad things worked out the way they have. Although I do want to someday sit on a park bench surrounded by wild cockatoos looking for handouts. Really!!
What will you make today?