Becoming

Not my photo...I remember saving because it captivated me so much! Please let me know if it is yours. There is such beauty in BECOMING within everything about this photo!

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“And the moon said to me you do not have to be whole in order to shine.”  Anon
 
Becoming.

This is a loaded word. It is a loaded idea. When did it become so?
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When did the idea of needing to know who we are or who we are going to be at birth become the bottom line?
A favorited buzz phrase as people of all ages return to their education this month is ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’

It pains me every time I hear it.

I still remember the pressure as a child in the days leading up to when returning to school as to what my answer would be. It was made even worse when you entered high school with the focus on college and beyond.

I remember feeling like no one was leaving me any room to become who I was meant to be. I needed an answer. I had to produce something clever and worthy of my teacher’s expectations of me.

To be honest, I have changed my focus many times throughout my life journey, and I am grateful for every time I tried something new. All of these experiences help me to become who I am meant to be.

On any given day we are becoming who we are meant to be. And most especially in an educational setting we are learning and growing with no end point. To ask a young child, let alone an adult what their life plan is to me, damaging. It suffocates them and leaves them no room to explore ideas, dreams, and the what ifs.

I love giving my kids so many different paths and ideas to walk down as fast or as slow as they wish. I do not for a moment want them to land on any one specific path for too long. That is not to say that I want them to walk through their education aimlessly, rather I want them to always be open to the possibility of more. Because, really when you stop to look at the bigger picture, there is no end point while we are living. We can try out as many different ideas as possible, as we are always becoming.

I personally have explored many different and diverse paths in my life; each one giving me new awareness to grow in a unique way. As I have landed in particular ways within my work, my imagination of all that I still want to become is alive and breathing on so many levels.

I never want to stop being curious! Do you?