What would you be..

If you could be anything you wanted to?

Did you ever—do you still—have secret dreams about something you’d like to be? Maybe the head concubine in a pasha’s harem. Or an astronaut circling the earth. How about an explorer on the Amazon River or a stunt pilot in an air show?
When I was in my early teens I wanted to be a movie star (big surprise-who didn’t?). My mother didn’t take too kindly to the fact that I went around blabbing it all over the small town where we lived. Or that I dug into my sister’s makeup and went to school with enough eye shadow and blush on my face to qualify me for the clown college. But I saw myself as the next hot siren with flowing black hair and bedroom eyes, handsome men at my feet…well, you get the idea. Too bad I was only fourteen at the time!
As I got older my dreams changed with my life experiences. I had a ride in a tethered hot air balloon and decided I wanted to compete in the race in New Mexico. Until, that was, I found out how much it cost.
In college I was the only female reporter on the sports staff of my college newspaper. I had dreams of breaking glass ceilings and soaring to journalistic heights. Then I discovered at that time the ceiling was more like cement, and the coaches didn’t take too kindly to me criticizing their athletes.
Managing rock bands and country singers led me on a different path. I spent four memorable (and very interesting) months in Nashville and two years on the road with musicians who never reached a social age past ten. But I did learn how to contact a bail bondsman in the middle of the night and to book out of the way rooms at out of the way motels. Groupies were throwing undies even then and somehow they always got dumped in my possession. Like I really wanted them!
I’d love to have been a singer except I can’t carry a tune with a moving van to help me. I wanted to be a folk singer, but besides not being able to sing I only learned six songs on the guitar (that’s all there were in the book I had).
My scariest dream was of being a race car driver, when I hung out with someone who built prototypes. I actually got to drive a Lotus, a barely street legal car, on the track at one of the speedways. Scared the hell out of myself and decided top leave that particular career to someone else.
So now, instead of shaping a million careers for myself, I write about them. In my books I can be anyone I want to be and do the most amazing things. And all without ever leaving my desk.
What are your dreams? What are you secret desires? Come share them with me. I’ll bet they’d make great stories.