Death of Dreams

How many of you dream? I don't mean running through endlessly recuring hallways like Scooby Doo or fify-foot banana splits. I mean dreams about life and your goals in it.

It usually starts at a very young age, wanting to be a fireman or a cowboy. As your perception and knowledge of the world and yourself grows, so do these dreams. Some people still want to be firemen, for which I am very greatfull. However, many people around my age are loosing their desire and hope for their dreams. (Maybe this is true of most generations. I'd love input from people on this.) I lost my barely formed dreams in the trap of cynicism. I'd seen the shows with men in mid life crisis. I'd read books with successful 70 year old men filled with extreme bitterness because of how life was ending for them. I'd also seen the films and read the stories with all the upcoming young people with bright eyes ready to take on the world. But, I was wiser than these characters because I knew how life would be in another 40 years.

I don't know where this cynicism that is so prevalent in my generation came from, but I have my guesses. The 60's and 70's saw American culture swing towards an optimistic world of peace, freedom, and happyness. By the end of the 70's, this culture crashed and burned in the realities of psychedelic drugs, STDs, and the truth that "mother earth" wasn't so mothering after all. I think its quite possible that America is now struggling with the tremendous cultural let down of those years and hopes. Add in the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold wars, the government scandals... (What about the Great Depression of the 30's?) I'm fascninated with these ideas, but I digress.

My point is that we are growing up in a highly cynical society. We don't trust anything or believe in anything because we are "too wise" to be taken in again. We laugh and scoff at everything. Don't believe me? Look at the popularity of Seinfeld and the Simpsons. Hope is shown to be hollow and then laughed at.

And our hearts' desires? Generally stuffed down before they can become full fledged dreams, fair game for society and peer groups to squash with "knowledge" and "reality." Yes, I realize that this is a very cynical view of culture in itself. I'm writing an extreme here, but I do think that the personal hope and dreams that can drive us on as children are called "childish" by society and our peers. We learn to replace them with ready made "Life Paths for Success," generally starting with your choice of 4-6 year stock college degrees, passing through two cars and a 2500 sq/ft house, and ending with retirement at 65ish.