A few of my contemplations

There seems to be this prevailing notion amongst those in my age bracket that the only goal in life is to be successful. You know the type, the wide eyed 18 year old that just graduated from high school, and thinks he can study something tough and prestigious and be given the power to change the world, marry a beautiful wife, buy two houses, have a family and gain the respect of his peers. It almost seems that our youth is put on a rail car, that our lives and future are chosen for us and we just make a decision every once in while which track to take: left or right. Never once do we ask if we want to be on such a transportation.

How many of us have dreams that are outright crazy, only to be told that the journey there is too tough, too financially insecure, too unfulfilling, or perhaps too unrespected?

Which leads me to think a rather depressing thought: How many of us deny ourselves to dream that would lead us to become the people we are meant to be for fear of failure, rejection and misunderstanding from those around you? How many potential artists, scientists, musicians, painters exist?

Perhaps the tragic part of all this isn't simply the denial of the individual but rather the passivity one has towards life. To live and be passionless, to sleepwalk through life, to be without any curiosity. It's an common occurrence whenever I ask people around me what subjects they are interested only to hear "nothing really".

What kind of world do we live in when intellectual curiosity is killed when there's a stratification amongst education. What does it say about us when Art programs in schools are always the first on the chopping block because they are deemed unimportant subjects?