Settled Waters

As a child, one of the conversations that I remember best with my first-grade teacher was one that shapes many and most young people's lives: What do you wish to be when you grow up? Why?

I don't know about the rest of you, but even then I believed that this question was meant to corner me into just ONE place: one job vocation, one set portion of training, and just one area of expertise. Forgive me but...TO H-E-double hockey sticks WITH THAT, I wanted to know as much as I could get my little mind onto! As a wee 5-year-old, it almost seemed difficult for my teachers to understand that I wanted to know my world as it is, to know just where it had been and with all of those details together, where we were going. I wanted to view the world through that multidimensional, Prismacolor lens and see just what the landscape, the environment, and the people have to offer. As terrible and as magnificent as it can be. No filters.

If there ever was something about myself that is not only difficult to articulate and explain to other people, let alone for them to understand, it is this. Many of the adults and children that I came across, to this day, still do not understand how I could not be content with simply existing on one plain of existential knowledge when there is just so much that I could learn in order to be a better, more compassionate and driven individual. Why limit yourself to one path, where there are many that can diverge into another part of our greater horizon? As I grew older, and came into high school, I found it even harder to explain to peers how important and vital it was for me to broaden my awareness, and why I was uninterested in just simply “being a teen”; why I was uninterested in being a part of a stereotypical party scene, without simply sitting and absorbing other’s antics much like a plant absorbs sunlight through photosynthesis.

Even now, at 26 years of age, I go through my day-to-day life absorbing my surroundings like a sponge and constantly wish to learn and observe human behavior. I want to know just how we have an effect on our world, just as our world has such a vital effect upon us all. Seeing this all written here is both heartwarming and also a little nerve-wracking, as I also find it hard at times to admit my differences and hope to find others that feel the same as I do.

So! Why am I writing here on Vocal? To discuss my experiences, and see just what that could mean to the community at large! I want to know you, to feel what you're all feeling, and see the world through your eyes and, I hope to show you how I view the world through mine. This is what I wanted to be when I grew up; a member of the world community, sharing my knowledge and experience for no greater purpose other than to grow together.

As an individual, we have the ability to hit the ground running and gather that singular viewpoint that delves into one of billions of experiences; as a group, we can bring that together into one image, and create something that is truly beautiful, tangible....something that is POSSIBLE. And together, near anything is possible! Together, we can learn how not to repeat history and, in so doing, move collectively forward so that we do not fall into the age-old patterns of our predecessors.

I pose a couple questions for you, my dear readers:

Why do you do what you do, now that you are "grown up"?

Do you wish to know, and understand, more? As with all things, why?

A crucial piece that has laid foundation within my thoughts themselves are these questions. It drives me to continue understanding, learning, endeavoring to expand my knowledge of the world in which we have been born into. It is so important that we know these questions, and that we constantly are seeking to learn ourselves because, as we all do age and grow older, we also change our mindset. There is not just the one job, one knowledge base, one set of experiences that we will be content with; we will always wish to learn and understand more.

I hope to see a brighter, more knowledgeable, and aware future for us all. What about you?