What Is The American Dream?

As a boy I found that I wanted to be a musician, a guitarist or perhaps a keyboardist, but in fact I wanted to be just like John Lennon. I liked his stage presence and voice. As I grew older, I enjoyed the abilities of Lennon and his bandmates, and I dreamed of forming a band. I also enjoyed making up stories and telling them to people; especially to my younger brothers at bedtime. That was the first time I had any inkling of what I would like to be or do with myself when I grew up. But I wasn't really thinking in those terms. It was a boyhood desire to emulate and become something. The choices I made in life prevented the realization of those desires. In high school, I pictured myself becoming an architect or a draftsman (this was before the invention of the PC and Autocad). But what I really enjoyed doing most was writing. One of my teachers, Mr. Good, encouraged me to write more, but I didn't have time to fully invest in myself and more importantly, I lacked the understanding and the  drive to achieve that goal. I had to work part-time after school to help my family. And then there was the attraction of the opposite sex. After high school, I thought I might go to college and become a geologist. My family was poor and there was no way my parents could help me financially. I knew nothing of grants or scholarships. The military draft of that era also came into play. Upon receiving my notice, I went to the Navy recruiter and signed up. The Navy sent me to its electronics and navigation schools. Upon my discharge, I really began for the first time to think of my future. I gave myself three possible career paths to choose from or to fall back upon. I chose to become a musician first, a writer second, and should I fail in the pursuit of those careers, I would become an electronics technician. Although I love music, I did not pursue it properly. Somehow writing became more of a hobby as the practicalities of life forced me to find a means of immediate employment. Life forced my third choice to the fore. I worked for a couple of years in the electronics industry, but was bored to tears. I also smoked a lot of marijuana and, no pun intended, it clouded my ability to rationalize. Partying with my friends was easy, and being single was fun. I met a lovely girl who was intelligent and fun. We got married and settled down. We had our first child, and supporting my young family was paramount. I did not want them to suffer in poverty as I had. I learned to become a land surveyor. The work was interesting and never boring. I did field engineering work on some multi-million dollar projects, but I was never happy. It was just a means to an end. I was able to buy my family a home, fix it up, and maintain a decent lifestyle. I got hurt on the job, and that ended my career in heavy construction. All the time I was working though, I wrote. In 1988 I began working on a story called Private Revolution that was published in 2006. I now consider that story drivel. Eager to be a published writer, but totally ignorant of what was required, I dusted off a story I wrote in 1977 titled Beetle and Lady Bug. It was a love story, but written for children. It was published in 2005 after a Bug's Life had become famous, and children at a book festival compared both stories to one another. Kids are pretty astute. It made me wish I had taken the initiative long before and published that story earlier. I have since written and published or am publishing other works-mainly fiction. I live in a single family home in a great location. But it isn't the house that is the American dream. Yeah, that's a part of the dream, but it is not the entire dream. I danced around life not knowing or understanding what the choice of a career would mean to me. I always wanted to be an artist of some kind and believe I have achieved that goal. It hasn't paid me nearly as well as any of the other jobs I've held; including that of convenience store clerk and hotel desk clerk, but I enjoy it. I just may end up living in a cardboard box, but I have achieved my American dream of becoming a writer. The audience is still out as to how good a writer I am. All my stories are available at amazon.com.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=j.f.+dargon