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"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Do you remember adults asking you this question when you were a kid?

If you don't....I don't know what planet you come from.  Everyone has been asked this question.  It's fundamental for imagination and childhood.

Think about your answers, and the answers of the kids you know now.

Firefighter!  Cop!  Astronaut!  Doctor!  Teacher!  Engineer!

There were only a few general answers at that young age, and at one point, every kid wanted to be one of those things.

Some of them grew up and followed through with those dreams.  They became the thing they wanted to be when they grew up, and that's amazing.

Now, do you remember the kids who gave unusual and unique answers?  Maybe you were one of those kids.  I sure was.  I'm talking about the kid who wanted to be a scuba diver or a drummer or a theater director or a magician or a ballerina.

If you were that kid, think of how many people told you those were unrealistic expectations.  After all, you have to make money in this world.  You have to contribute to society.  You have to go to school and get your bachelor's degree and make your parents proud.

Yeah, I've heard that speech plenty of times in my life.  Thankfully, my parents have always been supportive of my love of writing.  They've seen my dedication and genuine passion and have supported me in all my decisions.  But other people?  Not so much.  I remember the first time a woman told me I had to get a 4-year degree because you have to learn how to write in a classroom, and that I better use my degree to become a teacher, because writing doesn't make that much money.

Um, no, that's a lie that society told you, and you bought it.

(If you're here and you agree with that woman, it might be too late for you.  But you can start .)

People get it into their heads that there are only a few ways to be successful in life, and that is to make money.  Anything that makes you money, you're on the right track.  We've known this about humanity in general for quite some time, but I didn't realize how bad it is until the other day when I was talking to one of my best friends.  She's a scientist at an aging lab at UCSF.  Someone who has a "respectable" path ahead of her, someone who will one day soon make a decent living off her research.  Someone who, to the general public, is bettering the world more than "those entertainers" ever could.

Except....she, too, gets ridiculed.  The science she's passionate about is a new branch of study, and there aren't many people involved.  Someone in the last couple of decades thought, "Hey, I have new ideas about this type of research.  Let's try it differently."  And that group of people is now constantly up against the rest of the sciences.

That's incredibly daunting.  And perfectly stupid.

It's almost like people get stuck on those 5 or 6 general career choices.  Those are the acceptable ways to make money and spend your time.  Anything else is frivolity, not worth your time, unimportant.

Wrong.  We are the ones who do what we must because we love it, not because we want to make money.  We are the ones with everything to lose.  We are the cracks and crevices in the structure of society, the thread in the fabric of our world.  We are the set designers and museum curators, the writers of fantasy and the booksellers.  We are YouTubers and wedding photographers and nannies.  We are the new scientists with new ways of thinking and the pioneers of new ideas.  We are getting the actors on stage and we are there to clean up after the show is done.

We are important.  And we want to do what we're passionate about, for that reason only - no strings attached.  We want to do what we love.  We don't mind working extra jobs ringing up food or folding clothes or stocking books or sweeping up popcorn.  We will continue to do these jobs, because what we do when we get home, exhausted and hungry, is far more important than the number in our savings account.  It's fulfillment.

I wish when That Woman told me I couldn't learn how to write outside of a classroom, because I would have gotten real with her instead of shutting up.  But guess what?  I pushed through anyway.  I kept writing.  People didn't believe me, that I could do it, that I could write something worth reading, that I had skill enough to possibly make a living one day.  So I showed them.  I proved to them that I had something to offer.

I'm still not making a living off what I love to do.  That might take several more years.  But am I happy?  Yes.  Are people blessed because of my words?  So far, yes.  More than I ever expected.  Are my efforts lost to the world in frivolity?  *snorts* No.  That, I can say with complete confidence.

There will always be someone there to tell you you're not doing enough, you're not doing it right.  In every vocation, in every pursuit of passion, there will be an obnoxious person or two or eleven who tells you that you can't do that thing you love doing, because it's not important.

Don't listen to them.  Your gifts are so damn important.  They are what make you you.  They are what change the world and open people's eyes.  You are the person who is going to earn a thousand second glances (and eventually, an audience) because your work is irresistible in a sea of mundane nonsense.

Make us proud.  Fight for what you love.

We are so excited to see what you can do.