When I Grow Up

A lot of talk around the house these days has been about career and life plans. My son just finished his Eagle project and is working on his life plan essay. Hubby has been blessed with a new job opportunity which is a blend of years of experience. Stepson is in the process of training for the Navy's SWCC program.

So much discussion about knowledge, growth, dreams and life in general has given me time to reflect on my own experiences and dreams of the past.

When I was little I wanted to be an archaeologist. There was something intriguing about digging for treasures from the past. It seemed like life in a hands on history book, lying in waiting for someone to open. I wanted to be that person to open it, document it and reveal it's story to the world.

Google 

Today would have been the 100th birthday of Mary Leakey who was a trail blazing paleoanthropologist.
The young Mary Leakey had a love of archaeology and was allowed to participate in digs while traveling to France with her parents. Her passion for the science continued to influence her studies where she would audit university classes on archaeology and geology.

I wanted to be a Mary Leakey. Seeing today's Google Doodle of her made me see my old self's dream vision. (Alter the dalmatians for a sheepdog because I was really wanting a sheep dog like Ladadog in Please Don't Eat the Daisies back then.)

Aside from the dogs, that's me in that doodle. Looks like me. Looks like a content and happy me. It's made me wonder all day about how different my life would have been if I would have stuck to my younger self's life plan.

First, I would have learned the correct spelling of archaeologist.

Second, I would have ignored my mother's remark that it would involve more science than I was willing to choke down at the time. I would have pressed on that I wasn't swept up in the history and mystique aspect of the profession. It wasn't just about the wardrobe and awesome boots I'd be wearing. Awesome boots. Sigh.

Third, I would meet up with my sister who would have traveled the seas via a cruise line where she worked as a cruise director. Hey, if I'm making my younger self life plan work, I'm gonna make my sister's work too.

Dreams can make changes along the way to being realized. They can roll and tumble their way through life and morph into something we never could have imagined. I rather like how my life has turned out and I'm not sure I'd change a thing. And to be honest, I probably would've fallen into one of the big holes only to have my mother tell me she told me so. That's not worth the cool boots.