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Childhood Dreams -- Writer's Poke #118

For Writers:

When I was a small boy, I used to think it would be really cool to work highway construction. I wondered if the person that held the "Slow/Stop" sign was paid as much as the person jackhammering the concrete or laying the asphalt. I had no real interest in just being a sign holder, but it never occurred to me that crews might rotate duties.

I also thought it might be fun to be a manager of a fancy hotel; at the time, I think I assumed that the manager lived in the hotel. And undoubtedly, the manager had one of the fancy suites on the top floor. But it wasn't just the glamor of living in a hotel that attracted me; I loved the idea of being in charge.

And as shy as I sometimes was, I still liked the idea of being out in front of people -- or at the very least having some sort of fame. Did I value fame or power more? I don't know, but I often pretended that I was a DJ, I tried to write a play in third grade, and I didn't see any reason why I couldn't be president by the time I was 35.

I am now 35, and although I'm not president (yet), I can reflect back on my childhood dreams and see how those dreams have made me who I am today.

In what ways did your childhood dreams shape the person you are now?

"Our whole life is but a longer and greater childhood." -- Benjamin Franklin

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