If you’ve visited this post via Reverb10, I’ll briefly answer the prompts #16 (Friendship) and #17 (Lesson Learned) in the end of this post. Stay tuned!

What’s your childhood dream?

I had a few childhood dreams. I wanted to be a cartoonist. I wanted to be a game designer. I wanted to be a rock star. Have I pursued any of them? No, not really.

• I drew cartoons and illustrations, but I started dropping my drawing habits as I grew up.
• I tried to learn programming and to develop a game, but I was overwhelmed by the learning process and gave up.
• I picked up a bass guitar and practiced it for a while, but I stopped practicing when I moved to Australia. I tried to learn music composition, but I didn’t like songs I made.

As I think about these childhood dreams now, I understand why I gave up these dreams. I didn’t know the importance of making terrible first steps.

If you compare your current self with your hero, you might be disappointed at where you are now. Your inner critic might shout at you, “You are not good enough! You are not good enough! It’s a waste of time, who do you think you are, go back to where you are supposed to be!”

You don’t need to take seriously what your inner critic says to you. If you are just a beginner, you are supposed to make mistakes anyway. If your drawing sucks, draw more, because you’ll get better at drawing by drawing. If you want to create something as a beginner, aim for something small at first. If you want to be good at something, have faith and fun, and keep practicing.

It’s simple, right?

I believe it’s not too late to achieve your childhood dreams if you want to achieve them.

What’s your dream right now? If you can say it without hesitation, that’s great.  If you are not sure, think of your childhood dreams might help you find your new dream. You might be able to find some patterns and realizing these patterns can help you find what you want to pursue in your life.

Now… you’ve heard all of this before? If I stopped right at the paragraph above, this post would end up becoming just another post trying to motivate you in one way or another.

What if your childhood dream was really… absurd in the sense that it would be impossible to achieve, at least when you think about it from a grown-up’s perspective?

Here’s something I didn’t tell you in the beginning of this post.

I wanted to become Pegasus.

Yes, that mythical horse with wings. You probably know this by now, but I’m a human being and not a baby Pegasus. So, no matter how much effort I make, I can’t become a full grown adult Pegasus. It’s sad, but something I have to accept.

But, fortunately or unfortunately, I didn’t take this childhood dream seriously. I was smart and sane enough to know that I couldn’t become Pegasus, even though I wished to become one.

A while ago, I watched the late Randy Pausch’s last lecture video on Achieving Your Childhood Dreams and it got me thinking about this dream of becoming Pegasus. What I thought is this: It is impossible for a human being to become a mythical creature that doesn’t even exist in this world, but can’t there be a way to achieve something close to this dream?

I realized something – I didn’t know what Pegasus was like in the Greek myth, except how it was supposed to look. So, I researched a quick research on Pegasushood – a job description for Pegasus. In essence, Pegasus carries the Muses, the goddesses of creativity. I don’t think there’s any urgent need for me to follow everything Pegasus in the Greek myth does in order to become Pegasus. So, I decided to interpret this Pegasushood in the way I like.

My interpretation of what it means to become Pegasus is to become a person who carries the Muses, the goddesses of creativity – or inspirations in less fluffy terms – and bring them to people.

Becoming Pegasus in the literal sense may be impossible, but becoming Pegasus in this interpreted sense is possible. Of course, I need to be clear about what it means to bring inspirations to people, and how to do it, but that’s easier, if I compare it with how to become a winged horse.

If you are a Muse, I’ll carry you and take you somewhere higher. If you are in need of inspirations, I’ll bring them to you.

Your childhood dream is not ridiculous. If you give it a new meaning, you’ll be able to see how you can achieve it.

Even if you didn’t have any childhood dream like becoming Pegasus, it’s possible to give a new meaning to your childhood dreams. What interpretation can you give to them?

So, that’s all for my story about Pegasus and the Muses… now, let me switch to Reverb10 prompts. I’ll be brief with these ones.

Prompt 16: Friendship

How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst?

(Author: Martha Mihalick)

This prompt is tricky to answer, because I don’t let anyone change me, even if that person is my friend. I can choose to get inspired and influenced by great friends, though. In fact, I do get inspired by such friends, and I’m grateful that I met them.

I came back to Japan from Australia in September 2009, and my close friends moved to or lived in other places in Japan. So, it’s no exaggeration to say I had no friends near me when I came back.

This year, I made a number of new friends. Well, maybe not that many, but I met some amazing people and connections I made with them mean a lot to me.

The change is gradually happening…

Prompt 17: Lesson Learned

What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward?

(Author: Tara Weaver)

The best thing I’ve learnt this year? It must be that I am creative and resourceful (I believe you are too, by the way). I will apply this lesson by creating more next year for prosperity and blooming!

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So, what’s your childhood dream? Tell me, because I’m curious. If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with your friends by clicking the like button or the tweet button below. You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or e-mail, too. I’m looking forward to connecting with you!

Photo: Max London