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“We had so many dreams as children. Where do they go when we grow? Are they swallowed up by the mundane things of everyday life? Or do we lose them, leave them behind us in the dust, for new children to find and take up?”
– Quoted from Paris Chia, a budding street photographer
By Cass, Offbeat Perspectives
What happens if I slowly lose my individual thoughts?
Like how the ground eventually dries up during a drought.
What if I one day lose my ability to think?
With my capacity to question drowning into a sink.
Forsaking opinions for ambition.
Choosing stability over diversity.
Giving up freedom for reliability.
And learning to take reality, as the very same fantasy.
My creativity will all just wash away,
Squeezed out by repetitive routines throughout the day.
Where your mind do not even have a place to think,
And only your eyes are left, with the given tasks to blink.
Like a robot,
I’ll just work like a machinery tool.
Controlled by systems,
Restrained by rules.
Will “realism” become another word for “normality”?
Where achieving KPIs become my main focus and sanity?
And idealism becomes just a plain fantasy,
With conformity ironically, becoming a necessity.
Welcome to the world of being an adult,
Where regulations just aren’t meant to flout.
We all used to have dreams, don’t we.. as youths?
Or were they just dreamy shoes, too big to even fill?
We may all have to eventually grow up one day,
And push our hidden beliefs to be kept at bay .
But deep inside our weary hearts,
We all know there is definitely space for a free spirit spark.
I’m sure all of you know the story of Peter Pan,
And the tale of his infinite Neverland.
Like him, I’ll tightly hold on to what I have,
Before they might be eventually taken away by the decree theft.
This article is an edited version of that originally published in Offbeat Perspectives, which also has a Facebook page.
Featured images credits: Paris Chia Photography, @Instagram, @Facebook