Childhood dreams

Photo by Yohann Lc on Unsplash

I think most of us remember our childhood dreams. Mine varied immensely over the years. In fact, I have a videotape of me when I was three, where I said I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up, but I can barely remember it. However, I remember two things vividly about my childhood dreams. The first one is that I loved drawing and I wanted to be an artist. The second one was my spiritual connection with God. At the time, my family was catholic, so I wanted to be a nun.

Creative pursuit

My first dream is something I actively pursued, encouraged by my family. My dad was especially supportive because his family was not of his dream to become a musician. Also, I remember taking an old art book that was in my family and my mom teaching me some color techniques. I developed this interest, taking comic classes, selecting art classes in high school, and eventually studying design. I did not know much about the career when I chose it, but I believe it was divine intervention. I did not believe I would live of art, and my headteacher, who studied art, encouraged me to look for other options where I could use my other talents. I met a recently graduated designer a month before I finished high school, and I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. 

Becoming a designer was not easy. Creative careers require a set of skills that I had not developed, I had to dedicate many hours to create, without much sleep, and I compared my achievements with other students. But instead of getting depressed over it, I started to look for ways to specialize and do something unique with my set of skills. I looked for inspiration in other dreams and experiences. This led me to explore eco-design, participate in a design management class as a listener, be the design captain in a solar EV car development, do an internship as a UX/UI designer, and eventually work in an Edu-tech company. What changed as I studied, was my perspective. From expressing something, to channel someone else’s problems to provide solutions.

Spiritual quest

My second dream was something that changed in form, but I eventually did in a different way. I have vivid memories of a spiritual connection with God, and how I tried to be near him. But when I was 12, I started to doubt what I was taught, and eventually became an atheist. It was a hard experience. I started my spiritual quest again when I was 15. 

It was during this search that my dad brought a pair of sister missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to our home. My parents were baptized, then one of my sisters, and then I decided to listen to them. After pondering about the message they shared, I also became a member. 

A few years later, when I was in my third year in college I felt prompted to go on a mission. I served in Argentina Buenos Aires South Mission, from 2008 to 2010. It was one of the best experiences of my life. One story worth mention is that one day during the early days of my mission, walking in the streets of Villa Gesell, I reminded of a situation I lived in when I was 11 or 12. An African priest visited my catholic school and gave a talk. I vividly remembered him writing on a whiteboard MISSION, and the strong feeling I had. I had to serve a mission, only in a different place.

Making dreams a reality

I feel dreaming and working towards achieving them is what makes them a reality. Like President Thomas S. Monson said: "Work without vision is drudgery. Vision without work is dreaming. Work coupled with vision is destiny". I have achieved most of my dreams and the ones I have not, I think is because I have not tried hard enough, lack preparation or it is not time yet. Like Randy Pausch said in his "Last Lecture": "...remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who do not want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."

Dreams change as we grow, and our experience expands. I would not want to become an artist now, or a nun! But I have learned to always dream new dreams. The key is not losing our essence and have a larger goal that does not end when we achieve a title or complete a task.