Don't Worry. It's in There: A Former Teen's Guide to Going for Your Dream

by Shaheen Sheik

posted March 24, 2005

It has been a while since I’ve been a teen. To put it all into perspective, when I was a teenager, there were no cell phones, Beverly Hills, 90210 was the original OC, and Michael Jackson was still very, very cool. Like I said, it’s been a while.

When I sat down to write this piece, I kept asking myself what are the things that you all are wondering about these days? What kind of advice can I offer you? So I decided to go to my source. I went to my parents’ home in Southern California, climbed into my waterbed surrounded by the relics of my teen years. Old yearbooks with my friends’ signings, pink and blue friendship bracelets tucked into a tan plastic dappa in my cupboard. I even managed to find my yellow, hard-cover diary that I wrote in from 12-17. When I started to read it, do you know what I realized?

Not much has changed.

In my diary now, although today I call it my journal, I still write about boys, my friends, and what I want to be when I grow up (even more). If anyone had tried to tell me when I was in high school that when I grew up, I’d be a singer/songwriter and recording albums in studios, I’d have laughed in their face. But inside, I would have hoped more than anything that such a story could come true.

See, what I remember telling people from the time I was 14 was that I wanted to be a lawyer. We all know that South Asian kids have to pick a profession, but everyone was already a doctor or an engineer, and I wanted to be different. So I picked something that my parents could respect, that would give me a chance to use my smarts and that would let me be a little different – a lawyer.

I don’t ever remember telling anyone that I wanted to be a singer. But then, as I was looking through my old diary the other day, I came upon an entry during the summer before I started 10th grade.

July 13:
Dear Diary:
What’s ?? Lately I’ve been having a lot of dreams about Jason. He’s so cute.
Andy’s going to have his birthday party soon. That should be so fun!
I also dreamt that Peter Gabriel is my manager. New Kids on the Block and I were doing a concert together…

It seems the one person I did tell this hidden dream of mine to was me, someone I felt I could trust.

It took a long time before I decided to just go for it. I actually ended up graduating from law school, but somewhere in the middle of it, I chose to switch paths and be a singer/songwriter. I stopped keeping it a secret and finally blurted it out loud to those who were close to me.

Yes, my parents were furious. And absolutely, it felt very scary to embark on this journey with little experience or guidance. How does a person become a rock star? There’s no college major to teach you that. But soon, once I got over the shock of my decision, I sat down to figure out how to follow my heart.

Since I knew how to be a student, I found teachers. Good voice teachers and guitar teachers to help me learn more and to offer me advice. They gave me books on the music business to read. So I read them from cover to cover. The books told me that a great singer/songwriter needed lots of performance experience. So I started going to open mic nights and performing. And there I met other musicians. But, they all had CDs, and I didn’t. So I asked them what they did to make their CDs. And on and on until today, I’m releasing my first full-length album called “Rock Candy,” and actually also using my law degree to navigate the sometimes ruthless music business.

There used to be this spaghetti sauce commercial on TV when I was a kid. The scene was a kitchen where an Italian mom was cooking dinner. Her son walked in and asked in horror what she was doing when she opened a bottle of spaghetti sauce. (It would be like watching your mom use a chai masala packet from the grocery store, instead of just boiling the milk with all the spices in it.) The mom just smiled and said that she was using this Sauce. The son said, “what about the oregano?” She said in this sing-songy Italian voice, “Don’t worry. It’s in there.” “What about the garlic and the fresh tomatoes,” he asked more frantically. She said, “Don’t worry. It’s in there,” getting a little more frustrated. “What about the…” And before he could finish the question, she took a spoon of the sauce up to his mouth and he tasted it. Then he replied, “Don’t worry. It’s in there.”

That’s what I want to tell you all. Don’t worry. It’s in there. It’s all inside of you. All of your dreams and hopes are already awake within you. Admitting them to yourself and to the few you trust is the first step. After this, you can gradually put a plan into action.

It may take years before you can really celebrate all of your dreams and that’s okay. You cannot imagine the satisfaction you’ll get in just going for them. Listen to your heart and trust that you don’t have to worry. All of the dreams and the answers to how to find them are all right in there.

Shaheen Sheik is a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter. She loves to help aspiring dreamers so email her with questions or comments at shaheen@shaheensheik.com. For more information please visit shaheensheik.com, Artwallah, Jungli Music, and Artivist. Photo courtesy of Shaheen Sheik.