Dear Dreams: A Serious Announcement

For a long time I didn't understand that there was, or could be, a difference between goals and dreams. I thought they were the same thing.  Goals = dreams.  That all of the things you imagined, enjoyed recreationally, played-make believe about were in the same category as things you sought after with intention.  That you were somehow beholden to achieving your dreams the same way you were beholden to achieving your goals.  Which, in some cases, can be true, but certainly not always and it led to feeling quite overwhelmed by all the things I was *somehow* going to have to manage to cram into my life.  But THEN I eventually realized that dreams and goals are not always the same.  Goals are something you can tangibly work towards, and dreams can be absolutely anything that makes you feel good, regardless of its likelihood of ever coming true.  What a relief! Dreams have no boundaries.  Dreams are whatever the hell you want them to be. Dreams are dreamy.

A goal is "I want to be an accomplished writer", a dream is "I want to be Jay-Z's best friend" (true story).

So, here I am, everyone.  About to turn 30 years old.  I am wearing a fashionable ensemble of adult acne and a Garfield nightgown and I want to share with you a life dream.

It has been a dream of mine, for some time, to be a professional mascot.  A PROFESSIONAL MASCOT.  There it is.  I want that.  That is a DREAM.  Professional mascot.

Dreams in action 

I finally admitted this to my mother a couple of weeks ago and she laughed for over 20 minutes.  With each detail I added into this dream she laughed harder.  When I demonstrated some of my dancing skills, she wept.  And it felt really good to share that with her.  We laughed together, she doubled over on the ground, me gesticulating wildly as a moose or bird or dolphin.  It felt so relieving to say "I have a dream...to one day be a professional mascot, and YES that is hilarious, and that's ok."  Because it's a goddamned dream, and that dream is real.

I think I would be a great mascot.  It is an excellent combination of my inherent skills and serious interests.  It involves marginally embarrassing oversized dance moves, people pleasing, performing, getting crowds totally psyched up, inciting laughter and joy, being involved in sports teams without possessing any athletic abilities, amazing costumes, and the best 90's dance songs.  You get to wear that luscious plush head so you are totally anonymous and just free to get out there and rock that crowd so hard.  Some people dream of being Justin Timberlake, I dream of being the Mariners Moose.

If I got to be a professional mascot I would make everyone so proud.  I would just really dedicate myself to making the funniest, most passionate routines the game has ever seen.  I would cry.  Sometimes I work on my dance moves.  Sometimes I explore character development and my "signature style".  Sometimes I imagine the stories I could tell through the art of the mascot.  Sometimes I build my catalogue of mascot songs ("Y'all Ready for This" "Whoop, There It Is" "Who Let the Dogs Out" "Good Vibrations" "Might As Well Be Walking on the Sun" etc).

The Wheedle is the best

I know this is not a "cool" dream.  I know I don't get any street cred for un-ironically announcing this on the internet.  But I don't care.  It is something I carry around with me that brings me so much joy to think about.  I realize now that if you don't tell people what you want and how you feel no one is able to really share your life with you or celebrate in your successes or support you in times of need.  So I'm telling you all, people everywhere, that I dream of being a professional mascot and NOW if I ever get the thrill of actually becoming one you will know how truly powerful that is.  You will know that for this pizza faced cry baby, it is a dream come true.

And I think it's important to say that before I turn 30.  Just put it right out there.  Come clean.

This Seahawks mascot is doing a triumphantly epic job

Maybe someday I will get an opportunity to be a mascot.  I sure hope I do.  As I've already said, I'm pretty sure I would do a first class job.  But maybe I won't.  And that's ok, too.  Being a mascot is a dream.  It lives in my head and heart along with being Jay-Z's best friend, having diamonds in my teeth, and wining an Oscar along side Philip Seymor Hoffman.  It lives with dreams.
And having dreams is important.