Editor’s Letter – December 2018
There is something almost miraculous in watching a personality form. Taking in inputs, environmental stimulus and experiences and mixing them with inbuilt traits to create an evolving blueprint of motivations and aspirations. Over the last three years, I have watched my daughter do just that. She has grown from an incoherent bundle of hairless flesh with a total singular focus on breasts (in fairness there are some middle-aged men who could be described in the same way), to a fully formed little person with bangs, mini Chuck Taylors and a favourite colour (pinkish purple) and favourite food (Saturday morning pancakes) all in the space of three years.
But another thing that is wonderful to watch is the formation of pure dreams. I say pure dreams because these are thoughts that haven’t been sullied by the “reality” of life. Just the dreams of a pure soul who hasn’t yet been let down by failure. I guess there is a small window to these things as life seems to have a funny way of getting in the way of life but at the moment I am really enjoying getting a glimpse of a world my daughter imagines when she thinks of the future. She has gone through the pirate phase, she has talked about joining Paw Patrol and now perhaps most outlandishly, she is dreaming about going to space. Of course, the adult in me suspects that this will never happen, but a small part of me is right there beside her in the co-pilot seat.
I wonder if our M2 Champagne Bollinger Man of the Year Award 2018 Winner and Rocket Lab founder, Peter Beck, gave adults around him pause when as a child he mentioned dreams of building a rocket that would go into space. I’m not sure about that but I do know where the dream ended up and it is a profound reality. Not only has Peter built a rocket that has gone into space, but he has built an industry around building rockets that send satellites into space reliably, rapidly and cheaper than the industry has ever seen, while creating hundreds of jobs for New Zealanders and opening up a world of opportunities for other New Zealand entrepreneurs. Peter’s incredible achievements are not only an inspiration but a reminder to be open to the impossible.
The next time my daughter, or anyone for that matter, mentions some “crazy” dream to me I am going to listen because they might just be talking about the next world changing unicorn. Actually, my daughter’s really into unicorns at the moment too, so maybe there’s something in that.