Born with a goal
Yet not with a promise
Every human
Given a plan
Shown by dreams and skills
That society denies
Crumbling their truth
Until a husk remains
Smiling with pride
At basic survival
Ignoring the scar
Of what has been removed
I wonder how many
Have been destroyed
Never to touch their truth
Driven away
From what they were born to do
Dying unfinished
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I’ve been thinking a lot about this, especially as schools reopen. While it isn’t a popular opinion, I do believe in destiny. Every person on this planet exists for a purpose and they have the skills to achieve this goal. All they need is the opportunity, which is where things go wrong. Society doesn’t really nurture dreams. We label things as practical and impractical, which leads to discouraging certain paths. You can’t make money doing that? You can do that when you retire! It’s time to put childish dreams away! These are the phrases that have crushed many people. We wonder why mental illness is on the rise while stamping out dreams. This comes a lot from being a member of my generation, which doesn’t really have a name. Growing up, all of us were told that you can do anything if you work hard and get a good education. It was a lie. Those of us who didn’t go for the ‘practical’ jobs found that working hard didn’t get you as far as nepotism and luck. Even those who did follow the ‘right’ path found that hard work wasn’t the guarantee for success. This mixed with us rushing off to college, incurring debts, and graduating to find that it didn’t really help. We all know people who are working in fields that have nothing to do with their degree. It makes one wonder what the point of all the hard work and education was if you end up somewhere that you didn’t plan. Society forces most of us to strive solely for survival of the body while the mind and spirit are left to drag themselves along for the ride. Then . . . one dies. Whatever they were meant to do goes unfinished and the world loses whatever it would have gained. It makes me wonder how many souls are on the other side wishing they had their chance to shine. This rings exceptionally true during when you see people dying who didn’t have to die. Did the cure for cancer just die of Covid-19? Did the next great novel just die in a war zone? What would that have child become if they weren’t shot while playing with friends? Sure, this is dark and it’s a winding rant. Yet, I can’t help, but feel like humans created a world where dreams and potential are crushed more than nurtured. This is at the root of so many problems for the individual and society as a whole. I mean, wouldn’t the world be a happier place if everyone got to follow their dreams?
Legends of Windemere 
I can’t argue with your assessment. Dream crushing does seem to be the default. I just wish following one’s dreams were easier. But alas, nothing worth anything is easy.
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It isn’t even difficulty because it’s damn near impossible at most points. That’s where it gets irking. If hard work and dedication was all you needed then that would be one thing. Yet, they come second to who you know and how much money you can throw around. It’s almost like society was designed to crush most people.
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So much truth here. If life were fair both of us would be making a living from our fiction. It seems like people want our products, they just don’t want to pay for them
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Yeah. I remember running into a lot of people who followed authors solely to see if they would do a free day. Some admitted to pushing others into not buying with the belief that desperation would result in freebies.
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I remember some of that going on. It’s sad, really. We’ll throw twice as much at one fancy coffee, but not at a novel that you can keep forever.
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There’s a meme I see a lot. It says ‘support your artist friends as much as you support the celebrities who don’t know you exist’. Yet, Amazon penalizes for friends and family helping.
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That’s another hot topic right now.
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Crushing dreams is what some people do for fun.
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It’s their dream to destroy as many people as possible.
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I wonder if you could crush their dream by fulfilling your own? Interesting subject.
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I’ve been trying. No luck. Literally.
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Understand.
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For some reason, this made me think of several dystopian series, where a young person is “sorted” or “assigned” or “matched” with an organization/job/spouse that may or may not suit them. They are given a Destiny, in other words.
In the books, the young person finds a way to fight back and end that system. If only life were so simple!
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That genuinely sounds like an upgrade to reality. People don’t find the way to fight back very often.
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Very interesting post, Charles. Follow your dreams. 🙂
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Thanks. 🙂
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