The expectations of culture can be overwhelming. From the time we enter school we are told by someone else what is next for us. It’s as if real life is being put on hold until we have permission from the expectations of the world.
This angst, this feeling that “I can’t really begin my life until someone gives me permission to” can infect us. College, a job with benefits, a mortgage and then a bigger mortgage, a 401k, retirement, etc. those are the goals of a “successful life” as defined by culture. A success that we might or might not want carved on our gravestone.
Making a change doesn’t have to a big move. Small steps can lead to a better life. Just like 3 chords and the truth! Living with meaning and purpose can be done very simply.
What this means is that you don’t have to immediately rock the boat. Take those small steps. If you’ve been glued to the computer when you get home from work, take a Friday off and leave to go camping for the weekend. Buy a bicycle. Pick up a cheap guitar and start fumbling away. Get an old digital camera off of eBay and start shooting. Whatever. And whatever you do, starting small can lead to big things and a new attitude of living. The key is to give yourself permission to live and dream outside of whatever expectations you might have been blindly following.
I love Pink Floyd and while being interviewed for the video on the making of Dark Side of the Moon Roger Waters spoke about the feeling you get in High School that you are living by someone else’s standards and waiting on their permission to start living. As a teenager he realized this was crazy, life was already passing by and he didn’t have to wait. This spirit of action is what motivated him to start a band.
Most of us don’t have the skill, passion, dedication, and desire to be a rockstar (thank goodness!), but we all have something we are passionate about, we all have dreams. The only permission you need to start dreaming is your own.
It just takes one small step forward and you are already on your way. Whether it takes you to Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon or not, or May all of our journeys lead to joy, peace, and a community of support for each other’s wonderfully different lives.
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