Living The Dream-No one said it would be glamorous

So once upon a time I had a dream. Nothing deep like  Martin Luther King Jr. but it was a dream nonetheless. My dream was to go to Art school (cue studio audience: OOOOOO, AHHHHH). Yes Art school, pretty, creative, shiny, and bright art school. 

What did  I want to study? ....Photography. My Passion. The craft I learned at a random summer camp in middle school. 

I've spoken before about how I didn't follow my dreams straight out of school (please refer to blog post numero uno) but what I want touch on today is the tendency to "romanticize" things in our heads. 

In my head: 

Art school, A-Maze-Ing. Creatively stimulating. Fun. Exciting. Im so ready to be the next Picasso of the photography world. Can I do it- duh I got this in the bag.

In Real Life:

Art School: Expensive. demanding. Expensive. Stressful. Creatively suffocating.  Expensive. no diversity. Full of hours and hours of listening to the opinions of others- opinions that you don't necessarily care for, or ask for, or need, or want, or desire, or care for- for hoursssss. I appreciate critique, I'm growing so much from it but honestly sometimes, I feel as though I am paying thousands of dollars a semester to just listen to other people speak about their opinions. It fine when your in a class learning facts but when you work is hanging on a wall and someone says: "I feel like you should have" *Insert thing that didn't happen so isn't relevant to the photo at all like," taken this picture from an airplane on a rainy day to make this photo successful", you can't help but reminisce about the simple days at "regular college" when I had "regular classes" and all people spoke about was actual facts like, "Plato believed this" and "if you carry the one and add the two you get your answer". 

So as I was listing to Tupac (THUG LYFE..CLICK..CLICK) and doing my hair today, all of these thoughts floated through my brain. Lately, I have been complaining about all of my misery at Art school- this was a life long dream and its actually happening and its supposed to be A-MAZE-ING, Right? 

No. 

Then I thought to myself (as I was sitting under the dryer, cooking myself). But I'm actually here. In school studying something I love. And I never thought it would actually happen. 

So..whats my point? 

Thanks for asking...

My point is, even though the dream isn't as pretty as I made it out to be, I am blessed to be where I am right now...broke, balling my eyes out, frustrated at times, and stressed, but BLESSED. I have a dream that is coming true right now, and that means that I can soon check this off the list and come up with the next step. Had I never went after this and found out how difficult it is, I would have always been stuck way back somewhere thinking; What if  I went to Art school? 

Now that part is done and my mind is stuck on Whats Next? 

Becoming the next Picasso of photography...still a possibility =) 

Moral of my rant...dreams aren't always as pretty as they may seem, but if it really means something to you, it is worth it.