Thursday, April 7, 2011

Occupational Baptism

One of the projects I'm trying to complete this year is the art journal from an unfinished class offered by Shimelle called "When I Grow Up."  My journal is called "My Wildest Dreams," and it's about the things I dreamed about becoming, where I ended up, and where I still hope to go. It's in a hand made journal, which has a flap in the middle of each spread and which allows me to add things. I have posted previous entries here and here (okay, I know there's another entry somewhere, but I can't find it now; I will update the link when I find it - LOL!).  This entry is about one of my father's many quirks.  When each child was born, he declared what they would be when they grew up, and he pushed us hard in that direction.  He wasn't always right, but his drive and encouragement really did help us all to eventually graduate from college and become productive adults.  The image on the flap is a color copy of a collage I made in his honor.  The little icons and embellishments represent the various occupations into which we were all baptized.  Did your parents push you into a particular path?  And did you follow it?
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12 comments:

  1. AmyApril 7, 2011 at 11:10 PM

    What did he pick for you Rinda?

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  2. SianApril 8, 2011 at 4:42 AM

    A very intriguing title for your post - I couldn't wait to read more

    I wanted to be a journalist, but my mum wouldn't hear of it. She thought it wasn't academic enough..

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  3. CheriApril 8, 2011 at 5:39 AM

    My Mom pushed me to be an attorney. It definitely pays the bills, but I'm an artist at heart and wouldn't go this route if I had it to do over again.

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  4. Deb @ PaperTurtleApril 8, 2011 at 6:32 AM

    How fortunate you are to have had a father who had high hopes for you, Rinda! And I love the pages you have made to document his wishes. :o)

    On the flip side, at the risk of sounding pitiful, my dad was an example of what NOT to be, and my mom was our guiding light of hard honest work and love. She never told us WHAT to be, but she believed that we could do and be anything we wanted to be.

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  5. Scrappy GramsApril 8, 2011 at 7:20 AM

    My mom was like Deb's. But I did know that her dream was to be a teacher. Later, at age 40, I wasn't sure I wanted to teach for another 25 years so I quit my job; I thought that perhaps I was fulfilling my mom's dream, not mine. Later when I took an inventory survey the university offers it summed up that I should be a nurse or teacher. Ha! So when I found another job, that's what I went back to, joyfully, I might add!

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  6. AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 7:25 AM

    I love the title of this post! My parents were very supportive, and didn't push either of us in any particular direction. I actually fought being a teacher since both my parents and my grandfather taught, but in the end, it was a calling, and I did love my job!

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  7. ComfyMom~StaceyApril 8, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    My parents insisted we go to college since my dad felt he really missed out by not being able to go himself.

    What courses we pursued were up to us, but there was never any question of us NOT going to college.

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  8. Jenny and JimbobApril 8, 2011 at 1:58 PM

    Aw soo sweet! What a lovely tribute.

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  9. CatherineApril 8, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    I love it when I pick up an old project and begin again. It looks like a wonderful project.
    Catherin
    Just popped in from Shimelle's class

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  10. humelApril 8, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    I'm having problems leaving comments this evening so please take this as a comment on all your recent posts, I have read and enjoyed them all :-) Great flower photography, lovely art journaling, a heartwarming story of your mother - so many good things! And this was really interesting, too.

    Like with Stacey above, there was definitely an expectation that I would go to university (though there wasn't this same expectation for my brother, who had very different inclinations and ideas). I was free to choose my own career path, but I do wonder what the reaction would have been if I hadn't chosen something as 'suitable' as teaching!

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  11. AlisonApril 9, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    My parents never pushed any of us in any particular direction-they were just very supportive of our choices.
    Alison xx

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  12. laurieApril 10, 2011 at 6:47 PM

    i, too, love the catchy post title! my parents wanted me to go into a math/science field since they were both engineers but, strangely enough, all three of us kids went straight for the liberal arts! but we always knew we had to go to college, and it seems that is what your dad had in mind, as well.

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