Today, this topic came up as I sat to write about my intended topic of starting over. I referenced the term scatter drill, and it took me down a memory lane wormhole, which had me searching YouTube for videos of Teal Sound summer of 2006. As I watched the videos and listened to the music, I remembered with great detail the state of elation I felt from performing, the friendships I made, and the strength I found. The uncomfortable accommodations and physical and mental exhaustion are not immediate memories- funny how struggles fade over time, accentuating the good in experiences.
Two of my favorite mottos in life are, “Life is about experiences” and “Make friends wherever you go.” It will not surprise many of you that I spent the summer after my first year in college marching with Drum Corps International (DCI). This was the perfect way to live my mottos, experiences and friends, check and check! That summer was one of the most significant periods in my life. I accomplished things I didn’t know I was physically capable of (those of you who have marched know, those of you who have not, imagine “working out” in the scorching sun from dawn to dusk, I’m not kidding- lights on before the sun is up and you have 10 minutes to be on the track for the morning run, and we ended our day under stadium lights with a full show run, or two, or three…) The best way to describe that summer is as a series of adventures. I learned a lot about perseverance and how few creature comforts I needed to survive.
Our show was titled “Pieces of a Dream” and contained four movements:
Movement 1 – The Spark
Movement 2 – Finding the Right Pieces
Movement 3 – Adversity
Movement 4 – Realization of a Dream
“Pieces of a Dream” is portrayed linearly in our show, but I cannot help but reflect on the components and realize that they are all part of a dream or goal, but they are likely to be more recursive than linear. One can start with a spark for an idea and, through finding the right pieces, realize that a set of pieces come together to make something different and perhaps better than the initial vision. Or, adversity steps in and shows us weaknesses that need to be mitigated, altering the initial spark/idea or causing us to search for more pieces. Once we find ourselves at movement 4, realizing our dream, we may be immersed in a dream more beautiful than we could have ever imagined if we are open to new ideas and knowledge gained in the process of working toward our goal. If we linearly approach everything, we become inflexible and could miss opportunities to enrich our life experiences. If we are afraid of starting over (hey there it is, the topic came up somehow) or changing directions when faced with new information, we may keep going and find ourselves on a bridge to nowhere. Hey, we made it where we thought we wanted to be, but when we got there, we realize we could have achieved so much more if we allowed change and growth to help dictate the direction of our dream. We are often different people when we get to movement 4 as movements 1-3 inherently change us, especially movement 3, adversity. As we grow, so do our abilities, aspirations, and possibilities. I can see why many are resistant to stray from the linear way because recursive can look messy, feel messy, and be messy. However, on your journey, take the pieces of your dream, be brave enough to rearrange or play with the design, and go back to the drawing board to rework it if necessary. If you obtain new pieces, don’t automatically exclude them from your plan, one may be the piece that completes your masterpiece or dream.
Videos from my YouTube wormhole session:
Starts at 1:36- WARNING there’s a bit of saggy shorts revealing backend cleavage at the beginning of the video (#DCILife…) I am the color guard girl (flag) in yellow (non-saggy) shorts and purple top- check out my behind the back catch at the end!
“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other.”
– Douglas H. Everett
Kasey Cleaver 
To live your dreams in your waking moments is what your life is and what all of our lives should be. You inspire me!
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