When I grow up I’d like to be rich. Rich in happiness, experiences and love.
I think everyone would also like to be rich in money, it enables us to buy things for ourselves and others, but it’s certainly not the be all and end all. Perhaps crying in a Ferrari is better than crying on a pavement, but you’re still crying.
So, when I grow up, I hope I still have some of the incredible people I have in my life right now, who I can talk to if I’m not feeling brilliant, who will talk about everything from hair to the universe with me, and who never fail to make me smile. I hope I continue to travel and meet incredible people with individual stories, learn about cultures from all over the world, and see new places which I never could have imagined. And I hope to have a life full of love.
A lot of the time society promotes these things, but through the guise that to have them, you must have plans for your future, a specific life goal and a view to eventually settling down with kids and a house.
I don’t have a clue what I want to do after university, I have no idea what the future holds and I want to settle down with kids and house about as much as I’d like to walk over hot coals (which some people do, that’s their own choice and awesome if they want to do that, but not for me).
By not showing or wanting several of the things that society expects, I worry that I won’t have happiness, experiences and love. Yet already, I’ve gone against the grain and have some incredible stories to tell because of it.
Society said girls don’t play electric guitar as well as boys, I took that as a challenge and achieved distinction in Grade 8 electric guitar.
Society said women don’t travel alone, so I travelled to New Zealand by myself for a month and made some amazing memories.
When I was a young girl, most of the women in my life said that when I was older I would think about having children of my own, some of my friends want children, some have had children, but I still do not want children. That doesn’t bother me. Sorry not sorry, society.
Even though I don’t do everything conventionally, I have happiness through my music and brilliant people in my life, I have experiences through diving out of my comfort zone and I have love from a few very important people. I hope a few more people realise that society isn’t always right for you.
So, when I grow up, I hope I have an ever-growing abundance of happiness, experiences and love, no matter where I am or what I’m doing.
Amie Woodyatt
Illustration by Jasmine Jeffries
