I was just talking to my 5 year old about the Presidents of the US yesterday. She was looking at a placemat that showed photos of them all and made an observation: "They are all boys!"
"Yes they are, Clara."
"That's good." she said.
I am not a feminist, but I am a woman so I questioned her, "Oh, why is that good that there are no girls?"
"I like boys." Ok, good answer...I give that to her.
And then I recalled that I had once dreamed of being the first woman President of the US. I shared that with her. And I remembered how I had also planned to be a lawyer until I realized I was not such a good arguer and didn't want to work crazy hours. Plus, I also wanted to be a mama.
Dreams shifted. Some fell by the wayside. My life isn't entirely what I had in mind it would be, but its not over. Hopefully I have time left to make and accomplish some new dreams. And in the meantime, my life is pretty amazing, even dreamy at times.
Don't give up on your dreams. Even capsized ones can be righted. Or there are better ones out there for you to cling to.
@overalvandaan I liked what the painted edit added. Otherwise it was white. It made it more dreamlike. Too bad I didn't think of this for the theme. And thank yoU!
Oo I love these flipped images -who knew, lol. A fav. Life most certainly isn´t over and you´ll still got time, so make new dreams and follow them where ever they may lead you
@susale I had taken this shot weeks ago and finally got around to playing with it last night. Love that you got into them so much this week. Such a cool, different take, huh? Thanks!!!
What's this? A two word story? Cool flipped image. Dream on my friend. May I suggest a different title? Dreams put on hold for now... This title sounds a bit negative. I don't get any negative vibes from you at all.
It was a defining moment in my life when I realized there were no female presidents. It really upset me. I am a software developer which is a male dominated field, so while not a feminist either, I do like representing females in a cube farm of mostly boys. It has definitely had challenges, but I wouldn't choose differently b
I am a feminist. But I can assure you that Margaret Thatcher was not so maybe its not always good to judge a PM by gender! She did nothing to improve the career prospects of women in Britain - better developments have happened since. Anyway,,,, good luck with your aspirations. Its never too late. Its great to see women succeed in whatever their chosen sphere. I like your view of the flip side here.
Gorgeous FAV.
I am pretty much a feminist/humanist. And let me tell you that I have dreams at 63 that are more outrageous than anything that I dreamed when I was younger. My life has turned out nothing like what I had planned and I am thankful for that most every day. I was raised to know that I could be/do anything if I put my mind to it. I still believe that. Thankfully, I do not want to be a politician.
@cdonohoue My life is similar that what I had planned in ways, and I am glad that I didn't become a lawyer of the president. Who would want all that pressure? Did you see how much it aged George W? Thanks so much, my friend. Your fav didn't take, though...would you mind doing it again?:)
i never wanted to be president of any country whatsoever. i didn't even want to be class president. i wanted to be queen!!!! beautiful sentiment, kiddo. someone told me not too long ago that dreams are free so dream a lot! i say, 'tis better to have dreamed and got it poofed than never to have dreamed at all because it means you didn't get any sleep. tee-hee!
@bill_fe I am not a negative person generally. Sometimes I am, but not often. The title really came more from the photo than from what I was feeling. I flipped it and it looked dreamy...and then I remember the female president conversation with Clara yesterday and boom. Hopefully, I have much more life to live and will accomplish more of my dreams. For the most part, I love what I do and wouldn't change it, but there are days when I am not satisfied with being "just a mom." I want to write an amazing novel or book that changes peoples lives, I want to save lives, I want to do things to positively change the world (and I do in small ways with my own kids, but...). Anyway, thanks for your comments, suggestion and encouragement. Appreciate your fav and friendship, too.
@summerfield Sorry to screw with your equalibrium. Can you do a selfie sometime to represent what you said to me that you will be doing someday? Something about playing in rainbows and something else? I'd love to see that and then you could have a snapshot of attaining your dreams or your goal. If you do it, please tag me so I don't miss it!
Fav, lovely shot. great reflections. Dreams change and then the ones you wanted don't matter any more. The ones you want do happen. Here's to your dreams coming true.
You could have said to her that when alphabet was founded it fed the front-left side brain users - men, who may have struggled with finding inter-connectivity and societal relations but loved organisation and breaking down things into their components and making systems. Science, language, communication, invention and law making thrived and the goddess in animistic religions, and a love and worship of nature died out and in their place industry, understanding of how things work, and minute compartmentalization of all things grew. Subsequently women played second fiddle in this arena of technical education and bureaucracy. Centuries passed and Men entrenched the world in their systems and processes, God had become a man in most religions and women were often used to represent untrustworthy or weak characters like Eve. The culture became saturated with stereotypes men found reliable and perpetuating whilst the environment was suffering and relationships breaking down on all levels including international ones, as men didn't excel there- Hence wars etc. Men struggle to see the links in things so they established regimes and processes which would cause problems later on. Jump to today, when men have allowed women most freedoms but the religions, government types and processes they established still continue around the world. Leadership skills for instance reflect the skills men generally have, aggression, able to break down a problem into its components, etc and from an early age the toys and games children use reflect age old gender roles so that when women do get into power its often by exhibiting male characteristics and relinquishing family pressures. Feminists try to avoid the entrenched systems to provide a brighter future for women in general, and are criticized for knit-picking but the overarching culture we continue maintains unfair dynamics which have to be changed. Only a change in the way women think about themselves and raise their own girls will allow female leaders to come to the fore, and by definition their leadership will build lasting international relationships, reduce war, improve health and the environment and end the live-for-today mentality. One country in the world has more women than men in its parliament and that was intentional to bring its violence to a halt, 188 countries have more men.
but that's just one point of view I'm sure.
Love, love your story and ponderings! Had me thinking about my own dreams... I was always going to be a nurse but became a mother instead... same thing I guess, lol. In later years I became a dental nurse and am now a grandmother and still nursing, there is a new grandchild on the way so I will have that roll for many years yet :)
Seems you have quite a few people thinking about this one... fantastic image.
@amandal Hopefully, third time was the charm on hitting the fav button! Not sure what's going on..thought it was user error (not unusual with my tech track record) but it's happening several times a day!
Everything about this is great and dreams definitely need to be chased. It takes courage sometimes though and that's what makes it hard. Beautiful photo and processing.
I love your flipped photo, Amanda. Such an awesome shot and what you wrote as well. It is great to dream and follow your dreams. Sometimes a rocky road though worth it at the end of that road. FAV
nice flip...and I doubt if anybody has the life they thought they would when they were young...but nice you have found happiness in the life you have. me too
Amanda, every day you wake up is another day to make your dreams come true!! You are never too old! I was 43 when I went to College. I majored in Mechanical Engineering!! Went to school with all men and worked in a place with all men. Things were hard, but I did it. My dream was capsized, but now I'm making a new one at age 66!! Dreams, even upside down dreams are still dreams and all of them should be cherished.
I absolutely love this reverse reflection!!! The photo looks like a fine oil painting! LOVE it!!!! FAV!!!!
So true...and it's never too late..I studied hard at the university (law) during 7 years, worked very short periods of time and find myself later being a mum...I absolutely love being a mum, but now they are grown up I think about starting something completely different...it's really never too late...;)
@owlsandanchors Thanks so much, friend!!!
I am pretty much a feminist/humanist. And let me tell you that I have dreams at 63 that are more outrageous than anything that I dreamed when I was younger. My life has turned out nothing like what I had planned and I am thankful for that most every day. I was raised to know that I could be/do anything if I put my mind to it. I still believe that. Thankfully, I do not want to be a politician.
but that's just one point of view I'm sure.
Seems you have quite a few people thinking about this one... fantastic image.
@bella_ss Wow, thanks so much for that, lady!! Awesome! Love your story, too. Your dreams came true:).
I absolutely love this reverse reflection!!! The photo looks like a fine oil painting! LOVE it!!!! FAV!!!!