Death of the American Dream
Current mood: morose

Maybe it was after reading The Great Gatsby in high school that I received my first inkling that no, in point of fact, you can't get whatever you want just by putting your mind to it. Regardless of how rich he had become or how many grand parties he threw, Jay Gatsby would never win Daisy away from Tom Buchanan. The realization killed him.

But it was 22 years later when I finally had to give up my dream of getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy, lovely, intelligent child that I finally, finally got the message that wishing it so doesn't make it so. That working hard to make it so doesn't make it so. That "putting your mind to it" doesn't make it so. That some things just aren't so! And the realization didn't kill me.

But I wish it had.