the weight of potential

when i was five years old i decided i wanted to be a bellydancer when i grew up, because i saw one on sesame street and she had a jewel in her navel and i thought how cool is that. when i was a little older i thought maybe someday i'll go to berkeley (i swear to you i did, and i have no idea where that came from either, certainly not my parents). i've been a bellydancer, sort of, and i've gone to berkeley, sort of. of course i also figured i'd be married by now with two boys and a girl but instead i'm divorced and really not too sure about the whole kids thing.

when you were little, what did you think life would be like at this age?

did you think you'd be married?
have children?

where did you think you'd live?
are you there?

what did you think your job would be?
lawyer fireman writer rockstar? proctologist?
(someone wondered recently: does anyone dream of becoming a proctologist?)

did you think you'd change the world?

when did we learn to stop imagining the future with the wonder of infinite possibility?