Wednesday, July 11, 2007

The Wishbook

I used to love making wishlists. As a kid I would circle so many things in the Sears "Wishbook", or I would find something I wanted and work hard to save my pennies to get it.

I have kinda gotten out of the habit in recent years, because as a father of 4 I usually do not have any extra cash to spend on myself. But as I go along I have found that day to day life has actually made me stop wishing for things. I don't spend time dreaming of the what ifs. I am not talking about being materialistic, sitting around being jealous of those who have what we want is very unproductive. But I think that wishing for things can be a great motivator for us to tackle new goals, expand our horizons and go after things that may, in our current circumstance, seem unattainable. Things can certainly own us and there ARE wrong reasons for wanting things. To outdo someone or to hoard something, these are not good. On the other hand things can be symbols. Symbols are so important. Take a look at company logos. It is not enough just to have a name, you need a symbol. If we wish for things in our life that are representative symbols of who we want to become, they can not only aid us once we have them, but can motivate us to become that person who 'deserves' that thing, and perhaps help us take our lives in a new direction that we may have only dreamed or wished about.

Recently (as you can see in another blog post of mine) I entered a contest. First place prize is $57,000. I made a decent entry and so I thought "What if I won?" At first my thoughts went to how much debt I could pay off, but then for the first time in a long time I did a little dreaming. My guitar and rig are old, an old rig for a tired guitarist, but then I thought, what if I could spend $$$ on a real setup. So in the spirit of wishing, here is a link to my wishlist of choice.

Guitar Center Wishlist

As you can see, johnnyGizmo wishes to break out of his cubicle and pursue something more. I have a new excitement in my life. I realize that I very well may not win this contest, but the wishing it prompted has given me something that I needed just as much.