What is it that I really want?

Have you ever felt like you couldn't be you? That you were expected to go through a life created by the world around you? We live in a cookie-cutter world. No matter how far we have come throughout history, there is still the idea that we, must conform to what society expects of us.

Why is that? We were taught and told how to get through life, and seem to follow a path predetermined by someone else. Ummm, ok. But seriously why? Like why is it so hard to be who you want to be? There are so many questions around this issue that we so desperately need to be answered, but maybe there isn't always going to be an answer to them. But maybe that's the answer? Perhaps we need to start by just asking questions, pushing our awareness and understanding beyond what we think we know and what we think we want. So I ask you this, or rather author Seth Godin asks you, in Warren Berger's text, A More Beautiful Question, "Is there something else you might want to want- besides what you have been told to want?" (Berger, 2014, p. 186).

So, Bethany here, stirring the pot, wanting to be the one that stands out, that wants to not care what others think. To be free to be my true self, who is really weird. But I can't really be that because of the fear, the judgment, and the nagging expectation in the back of my mind that I need to fit a certain mold, created by society in order to be accepted and to be able to get anywhere in this world.

Yikes, that was a bit heavy, but it's the truth for a lot of us! A huge part of the issues surrounding the world today is these expectations to be something someone else wants you to be. So hearing the question, "Is there something else you might want to want?" leads me to think of my own question and say, What is it that I really want? Or perhaps as an educator, how can I teach my students to become someone who can truly be themselves?

It is important for children to see themselves in the classroom through diverse representation, but also to know and understand the idea that they can be whoever they want to be. Teachers, parents, advisors, or anyone in a mentor position, should model what it means to be one's own unique self. The process is the key, Berger says, you don't just "find" answers to complex life problems [...] You work your way, gradually, toward figuring out those answers, relying on questions each step of the way" (Berger, 2014, p. 184).

And to quote Berger once last time, he states that questioning allows one to embrace uncertainty and follow your own spirit of inquisitiveness, to live the questions (Berger, 2014, 179). So as a teacher and thinking of my own personal questions, living those out, while also in the classroom gives children space to live out their questions as well. Allowing students to explore curiosity and foster creativity, can lead to understanding and open-mindedness, which in the end can be the change that needs to be seen in the world. If we can teach students to break free from these molds, be their own unique selves, and then go out into the world with those ideas, perhaps that's the answer to all of this.