Dream With Me

Dream with me. You are a kid, and it is Friday. You made plans during lunch to hang out with friends after school, and now is time to meet with them. It's bitter cold, so you all huddle into the group car to decide where to go. There are lots of places everyone wants to go, so it takes a minute, but you all settle on just a couple. After, one of your friends lives on their own and invites everyone to stay over. You like living with your parents, so you wouldn't do that, but it's super cool that they do. The complex requires verified permission from a parent or guardian for their kid to stay the night, and luckily you're able to get it before too late. You and the few staying friends talk late into the night, rebelling against your bedtime and talking about getting a staff member to help you make pancakes in the morning. What an awesome Friday.

Dream with me. You're in the next town over and your whole bag just got stolen. Wallet, keys, phone, everything. It's very upsetting, but you followed the signs to local police reported it and it's being handled. You use a public phone to call someone so they can give you your emergency spare house key. You call a rail car and set it to home. At least you can have a nice drink and a blanket while you report your cards stolen.

Dream with me. You are old, and have lived a long and satisfying life. Your children love you and grew up to have satisfying careers and lovely homes for their own children, who are now young adults starting their own careers and families. You had a wonderful career of your own and some of your hobbies had lasting results, though you never fully expected that. You retired a while ago due to your health, but the elderly care facility you chose to spend your time in is pleasant. You could live on the basics provided to everyone, but between that, your savings, government provisions for your facility, families including yours donating to your facility, and your own family's personal gifts and support, you can spend the rest of your days however you please. Though your body has significantly degraded, modern medicine keeps you fairly comfortable. You're happy. You've lived a happy life. Happiest of all, you know everyone you love is doing well and can one day feel the same.

Dream with me. You are a college student, and you will soon have your degree. You wanted to do something specific, and you've specialized further over time. As you approach graduation, your field increasingly changes, and you're not sure what will happen to the roles you're going for. Even so, your skills and knowledge are needed. If you can't get in immediately, that's okay. You can work other jobs, and if you choose, you can spend the next year working on fun projects to boost your portfolio and learn new skills for your field. Your future is assured, even if it is not immediate, and you will not suffer in the meantime.

Dream with me. Your industry got a revolutionizing new technology, and your position was not needed anymore. You consider spending some of your newfound time learning other positions in your field, but others in your position had the same idea, so the market is oversaturated. Honestly, though, you never learned those positions before because you liked the specific work you did anyway. There are other fields with equally fulfilling work you can do without going back to college for a new degree, and while you pick amongst them and try some out, you can spend more time with your hobbies like physical activity or making things. Maybe something you make will be popular, and you'll find a new community to take part in.

Dream with me. You've realized your "healthy normal" isn't "normal" or "healthy". Your "normal" is a constant struggle that others do not face. You call the doctor to discuss it and your options, and they suggest tests they can run to determine the exact problem. You're in within the week, with your work sufficiently staffed to run without you and the medical office sufficiently staffed to schedule you. The purpose is to improve your quality of life as soon as possible with minimal interruption to your life, so you're doing a few tests in one day to check for different problems. You get your recommended early-detection baselines done like everyone else, so these tests are targeted. With peer review of your case, the problem is quickly narrowed down. It's not something that can be cured, but now you have treatment that will stifle flare-ups and gradually make your "normal" much more comfortable.

Dream with me. You are a young adult starting college. You chose this university because you wanted a specific degree and you like this university's program. If your parents are still alive, you do not need to rely on their charity, and you will not go into debt. This is only an investment of effort, if anything. You were given responsibility for your necessities gradually from a young age and taught how to manage them, so you start your freshman year strong, knowing how to take care of yourself. Some students like you do others' laundry for discretionary funds, but if they don't get business and don't have financial support from family it won't harm them. You look forward to your future, knowing you chose this degree because the career seemed rewarding and felt worth four more years of school.

Dream with me. You are a child. You have lost your parents, or perhaps you are better off without them. Your life is now your own; you get to choose your new home from many regulated places for kids like you, go where you need to, get the food you need, and choose the school you attend, but you are not alone. You are still supported in any way you need. If you choose to go back or accept visitors, you can, but you will never need to. The world is your oyster and what you do with the rest of your life is yours to decide.