It’s been a wild 10 days or so. My daughter and I discovered that her early decision application required that she show up in NYC for a portfolio review at New York University. She sent in her application on October 31. We called the university on November 2 and found out we had to be in New York on November 13. She hadn’t even started on her portfolio! So, things have been crazy…setting up appointments to see two other colleges and have one other portfolio review (at my alma mater — Syracuse University), creating a portfolio, purchasing warm coats, getting hair cuts, getting work done, etc. (That’s why this blog has been lying a bit dormant…sorry!)
I’m struck, however, by the fact that she is stepping into the future…her future. How exciting! I wish I could go back to that time in my life when I was visualizing what my life might be like in college and onward… Everything seemed possible — and impossible. It was scary and exciting. She thinks she knows what she wants to do, but yet she isn’t sure. The future seems too filled with possibilities to decide upon just one.
For those of us entrenched in our lives and careers, feeling stuck, imagining ourselves doing the same thing until we retire (if we can afford to retire), how can we regain that sense of having a life time of potential ahead of us? How can we move forward with that sense of excitement? How can we step into the future as if we are creating our whole lives, as if our whole lives lie before us?
I know that having visions and goals — and taking steps to achieve them — helps. I know that trying to do something new or doing the things we have always wanted to do (not waiting for some time when we can afford to do them or have the time to do them) — or at least beginning to plan to do them — helps.
What makes your life new and exciting? What makes you feel as if you are stepping into your future?
Tomorrow I will get onto a plane with my daughter, and I’ll step into what may be her future — four years in New York City attending New York University (if she is accepted). I will experience this vicariously for a bit…and contemplate what I need to do to have a similar experience of my own.
