Nobody puts baillee in the corner

I want to start off by saying I don’t have kids, so I don’t yet fully understand what it means to be a parent. But I do know that my mother never hindered me. She helped me move to Austin on my 18th birthday because I had my heart set on St. Ed’s. She supported the three times I changed my major (and is still mad at me for not pursuing an English Writing major). There might be times I struggle financially, and I’m constantly jotting down pieces on receipt paper in-between customers while daydreaming about “making it” (whatever that means these days), but I’m working toward my passion. I tried more fiscally responsible majors during my freshman year and found them to be about as riveting as having Ken Burns narrate a Stephanie Meyer’s novel (which would I probably pay money to hear tbh). I had too much of a conscious for pre-law, so I finally let go of my foolish Elle Woods fantasy. I quickly realized my pre-med standards for comparison were Scrubs and House. I respect the hell out of everyone working towards those goals; they just aren’t mine.

As a kid, the movie I always related most to was Harriet the Spy. I envied her ability to write freely until my mom bought me my first composition notebook. Then,  I was off. I wrote everything from a Christian-themed Easter song (I’ll pause for the laughter to cease. See you in 25 years.) to pilots for animated shows (for Snick and Fox Family to date myself) to poetry (really, really awful poetry). Putting a pen to paper is the most natural feeling I know.

I’m not upset I majored in PR & Advertising because it has definitely helped me out with a lot of things, but I wish I had listened to my gut (and my mother) and majored in English Writing and minored in film. With all of that in mind, let’s get to the meat and potatoes.

A couple of days ago, I overhead a mother yelling at her son because he wanted to be a philosophy major and go to a liberal arts school. She told him he was going to be pre-law, shoot for a school known for their law program, and upon completion of his undergrad, take the LSATs. The finality she gave the period on her statement gave me chills.

Sure, I’m a writer, and I’m working a food service job, but I can’t imagine telling my kid that. I already want my non-existent kids to have everything and more, but I don’t want to plan their lives for them. The world is too big to limit someone. There’s way too much out there. I feel like I’ve done so much in my 23 years, and I’ve never even left the country. To me, it’s like putting someone in an enclosure and letting them see the outside world but never letting them experience it for themselves.

I’ll be the first to admit my flare for dramatics could make Meryl Streep shake in her boots,  but I’m being totally serious. If you force your kid into something they find lack luster at best, it can carry major consequences. I was an RA for three years and saw kids crack under the pressure their parents put on them. I’d rather have my kid working in a coffee shop while applying for apprenticeships in their chosen artistic area than be working at a law firm, eagerly awaiting the end of each work day.

We creative types are a different breed. The thing is though, if we’re passionate about something, nothing is going to keep us from achieving that dream. We’ll stay up until 6AM writing and still make it to work on time. We’ll spend our entire paycheck on bills and editing equipment and be content eating Ramen (when we stop long enough to eat, that is). We’ll work two jobs. We’ll hum the song we’re writing under our breaths while serving your food and washing your dishes. For allegedly never getting out of our parents’ basements, all of the creative types I know are busting their asses.

We may not have gotten the most lucrative degrees, but we’re happy with our decisions, or at the very least, accept them and/or work to change them. We know we’ll eventually get to where we want to be. We let our passions fuel our every move. So yeah, I’d rather have a kid who thrives off of creativity and has $2 in their bank account than a kid forced into wealth who is jealously watching my kid writing on the sidewalk from his office window.

To seal my coveted position, let’s momentarily throw in some Allen Ginsberg who wrote, “I saw the greatest minds of my generation destroyed by madness.”

No offense AG, but I think the greatest minds of my generation have been birthed by madness. The madness of saying no to the preconceived notions of adulthood. The madness of deviating from societal expectations and the status quo. The madness of getting liberal arts degrees.

So chin up, kid. I really hope you do get to be a philosophy major.