As a kid, you have all of these dreams. When I journaled in high school, I LITERALLY wrote about how I wanted to have a house filled with 70’s style shag carpeting, polka dotted walls and a retro VW bus out front that I painted myself. These were actual dreams of mine when I was 14. Then of course you grow up and you realize that most of these things are a complete waste of money, and there’s boring things you actually need to spend your money on, like health insurance (BORING), groceries (SOMETIMES FUN, BUT MOSTLY BORING) and another 6 months worth of contact lenses (SO BORING). But sometimes Matt and I get caught up in these long discussions on whether we want to live our lives focusing on amassing a nice suburban home filled with things or whether we want to be out in the world adventuring. What really matters to us?? House renovations? Smart investments? Or experiences?? We keep coming back to experiences as the ultimate winner.
I am usually a pro at making quick decisions and going with my gut, but for some reason this one just stumps me. When do you say SCREW IT and fulfill your dreams of whatever a younger version of yourself pictures VS being a responsible adult and going the route that most 30-somethings go. It isn’t so much about the end result, the MATERIAL thing for me, and it’s more about this feeling like I am letting my younger self down. We’ve been scouring internet ads for the perfect camper van for years, as I’m sure all of you who follow on Stories have seen. Matt flew out to Nebraska once to pick one up, and the deal fell through, and then we found one in Albany this past week and the owner ended up selling it to someone else who lived closer. We were crushed. Spending summers upstate in state parks in our camper van with Claude and Hudson is a dream of ours, but long before I had a family or even knew Matt it was something I’ve dreamt of. With summer around the corner, we have a list of “BORING” home things to accomplish, like adding a fence around our property, having new grass put in, updating our A/C system and generally non-glamorous things, and while it’s fun making our home more live-able and investing in it, we cant help but feel somewhat sad, like our childhood dreams are slowly slipping out of our grasp, on the back burner, never to happen.
They say life is for the living, but sometimes actually living it is so damn complicated. It’s a juggle of fulfilling dreams your past self had, planning for your future self AND actually living. When do you guys/gals out there decide to go for it, have some fun, and splurge on adventures that are on your bucket list, and when do you put your dreams on hold to pursue things that you know are the “smarter choice”? I think social media makes it seem like everyone is just out there living their best lives, but I thought it would be a nice change to show that over here we talk a lot about saving/spending/being responsible (okay, minus that dozen donuts we ate after a shoot today… 😉 )
Let me know your thoughts in the comments…