“Dreams do come true if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.” J.M. Barrie's classic novel Peter Pan was first published in 1911, after the play had been published in 1904. In 1953, almost 50 years later, Walt Disney debuted his famous animated film adaptation of the boy who never grew up. Then, in 1991, Steven Spielberg released a grown up version, where Pan journeys back to Neverland to rescue his two kids. Almost 100 years after the release of the play, Universal Studios produced the first live-action film adaptation of the book. My personal favorite of the many versions, the 2003 film stayed the truest to the book, and captured it's picture of youth at it's finest and left almost every viewer wishing they could fly away with Peter and never grow old. But, unfortunately, that kind of thing only happens in fairy tales and us "real" people are left with the cold bitterness of reality, but that doesn't keep us from dreaming.
You know, as you're growing up, there tend to be things that stick with you. Memories, thoughts, dreams, images that you just can't ever seem to let go of. Some people try to tell you that's a bad thing, they try to coax you away from things that keep you innocent and young. These days, it feels like adults try to make kids grow up a little too fast. It's like they feel like we all need to be mature and ready to move out of the house by the time we reach middle school. At least, that's what it feels like from a kids point of view. It feels like everything we do is too stupid and childish for adults and we feel ashamed of ourselves, but shouldn't everything we do seem childish? Correct me if I'm wrong, but we are children, aren't we? Shouldn't we look stupid, shouldn't we make mistakes? Isn't that all part of learning and maturing?
While we're young, it feels like adults try to trick us into believing nothing can ever wreck our imaginations. That our imagination can be as big and as vast as we want it to be, but it's all a lie. No matter what anyone says, deep down we know the truth. There are limits, walls, or ends to everything, especially imaginations. From a kids point of view, it feels like all adults are hypocrites because one second they're telling us to dream of anything and everything, then the next second you tell them your dreams and almost instantly they try and tear them down, and try make you be realistic.
A few days ago, in my American literature class, my teacher raised the question: "is it better to be a dreamer or a realist?" Most kids will tell you realist, then they'll see the crazy looks people are giving them and they'll amend their statements to say that there should be a balance between dreams and reality. But, then you ask the adults and it's almost like a mirror, except this time they start by saying dreaming is better before correcting themselves to agree that there should be a balance. It's funny how much children and adults are alike. After all, adults were children themselves once upon a time, and as time goes on children grow to be adults. So, if we're so alike and if we share the same experiences, then why don't we try to change the things that we remember as being terrible? We can't go back and change the past, so why not change the future? Well, here's the answer: we're selfish. The more we think about those "terrible" things, the more we realize that without them, we wouldn't be who we are today.
So, what do you think? It better to be a dreamer or a realist? Is it better to be oblivious with your head in the clouds? Or, is it better to be cold and bitter with the truth of being nailed to the ground? Or, are you one of those neutral, indifferent, indecisive people who can never seem to pick sides and go with what's in the middle and say it's good to have a balance? Well, here's what I say to you: I dare you to pick a side. Deep down, you're leaning more toward one or the other, so pick. But remember: choose wisely.
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
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