In a few months’ time, my daughter Imogen will finish her university degree. She’s started thinking about what she would like to do next.
“I have three lofty dreams,” she says.
One of them involves a piano, a microphone and a box of make-up. Can you guess what she wants to do?
In this week’s podcast, I talk to Imogen about her dreams for the future. We discuss the following questions:
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- What are Imogen’s dreams, and is it possible for her to follow them?
- Should I encourage her in these dreams?
- Or should I point her in the direction of safe and secure employment?
- We all have talents. Are we obliged to use them?
- What might the word ‘unworking’ mean?
- Using our own definition of the word, should unschooling lead to unworking?
- Unschoolers are different. Can this be frustrating?
- And what new adventure might Imogen and I be setting out on?
Show Notes
Blog posts about following dreams
Have you ever had a dream? I have. When I was a child, I wanted to write children’s novels. But somewhere along the way, I gave up the idea of becoming an author. There was no time for dreams. I had to be sensible and get a regular job with a regular income. That was what was expected.
I want my children to have the opportunity to discover their talents, and the freedom to pursue their dreams, whether or not I feel they will lead to a good career. Of course, they might make a few mistakes along the way, go down a few dead ends and have to start again. But that’s okay. They have my unconditional encouragement and support whatever they choose to do.
There seems to be a minority of people in the world who say, “I’m really lucky. I get to do what I enjoy most each day… and I get paid for it!” Everyone else goes to ‘work’, and passions and interests have to fit into the leftover hours of the working week.
Music
Frammenti, by Andrea Carri, (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
I hope you enjoy our podcast: Dreams, Talents, Working and Unworking.
The photos show Imogen working towards one of her dreams.
Wow, this sounds exciting. I'm tempede to try and listen to this podcast, given a peaceful half-hour. I also have a child whose dreams for the future involves a piano, albeit no microphone or make-up. I think all deams should be encouraged – even wild ones 😉
God bless.
Uglemor,
I want to hear all about your son's dreams for the future. I know he plays the piano. If he had a microphone. you could record some of his music and share it with us. Imogen was telling me how musicians from different parts of the world collaborate on musical projects. They send each other their recordings via the Internet and someone puts it all together to make one piece of music. For example, one musician might play the piano accompaniment and another do the vocal track.The Internet opens up so many possibilities, especially for people who live in more remote parts of the world. Oh yes, follow those wild dreams!
God bless you too!
Good for you Imogen. Follow your dreams. They were given to you and you will be equipped to fulfill it when the time is right and in the manner that might even surprise you. Enjoy the adventure! I love the courage you have to share your dreams and the declaration to work hard to get there. God bless you in your pursuits. He will show you the way.
Kim,
I agree it takes courage to share dreams. As Imogen said in the podcast, dreams are precious, and people can so easily stomp over them. I love the word adventure!
Thank you so much for your encouraging comment. I read it out loud to Imogen and it made her smile.
I dont have time for a long comment as I'm just about to step out the door for our errand day but I just had to let you know that this has been my favorite podcast so far. Loved hearing about pursuing dreams! My parents were the ones who told me I needed a real job, which led to me dropping out of college twice because I wasnt passionate enough. That was over 10 years ago and I'm just now trying to refigure out my talents and dreams. Lots of prayer and patience needed on my part. AndmI'm sending this podcast to my husband because I want him and our sons to be encouraged to pursue their dreams to. Thank you Sue and Imogen!
Tessa,
Your favourite podcast so far? Oh that is so encouraging. Thank you! I think the interview podcasts are definitely the best ones. Children and adult children have so many interesting things to share. They continually surprise me with their thoughts.
I can really identify with your struggles at college. I almost dropped out of university because I wasn't passionate enough about my subject too. But it's never too late. Use your talents and follow your dreams!
Thank you so much for your comment and for sharing our podcast!
Fascinating podcast, thank you ladies! You've given me a few things to ponder and I'm really looking forward to hearing some of your music Imogen.
Kelly,
I'm so glad you had time to listen. Thank you! I often think of you when I'm pondering talents and dreams. I can see how much you enjoy using your talents and you are sharing them with us through the things you make and sell.
I'm looking forward to posting some of Imogen's music, or adding some to a podcast. When she has time, I'm sure we'll do some recording!
Another brilliant podcast from the Elvis clan! So interesting about being careful sharing dreams and the possibility of them being dashed.
I do still struggle with the safe versus exciting jobs. Brbedict watches a YouTube guy who plays mine craft online and this guy is making serious money but I cannot see that as a proper job and tell Benedict that Lady Luck played a part in him being noticed.
I do however have two very dear friends who are in dead end jobs that they absolutely hate, to the point that their weekends are ruined knowing that a Monday morning is just around the corner.
looking forward to your second mother and daughter podcast and the first release of your music video.
San xx
Thank you San!
I have been thinking about Lady Luck too. I've read a few articles online on this subject recently. The thought seems to be that no one gets where they want to go without hard work and vision, and these are available to all of us. Perhaps people who earn a living from such things as playing computer games have a creativity missing from the general game player. Some people just play games, and some people play the same games and have creative ideas while they're playing: I could use this game to do… What if I could teach others to play as well as I can…. I have an idea to improve this game….etc It's more than just playing a game for them. Maybe Minecraft will lead Benedict into areas he can't foresee at the moment if he is encouraged to think creatively. I wonder if this makes any sense!
Imogen and I have been discussing our podcast. We've got the first episode planned out. I hope it will be interesting. We're certainly excited at the prospect of recording it. We were trying to choose some theme music this afternoon. So much choice!
Thank you for always being such a supportive and loving friend.
San,
I knew you were going to ask me about those articles! I started reading one article and then followed link after link and got lost. I can tell you where I started:
http://nosidebar.com/current/
This is an interesting article too:
http://www.businessinsider.com/richard-branson-on-luck-and-success-2014-9?IR=T
Yes, some people seem to be in the right place at the right time, but maybe their efforts set up that situation. Could it be other people don't recognise these 'lucky' opportunities or don't act upon them? And maybe luck has more to do with God's plan for our lives. Could He send the right people our way when we use our talents to fulfil our mission? I don't know. These are only random thoughts. It's an interesting topic.
Imogen and I had a wonderful conversation last night. We started with computer games which led to how we can encourage creativity in our children. We talked a lot about music too. We're going to try and replicate our conversation in a podcast or two. Imogen has done a lot of research and was sharing some very interesting stories about people who have used their computer game passions to earn livings. You might be interested!
Lovely, as usual, to chat! xx
Your answer about the creative aspect of game playing is really interesting, I had never thought of it in that way.
Any chance you could link to the articles you have been reading, they sound very interesting x