Giving Up on a Dream:

<p>The purpose of this paper is to clarify the experiences of young people who actively depart from the standard life course, taking the case of a rock musician who works with the dream of “success in music.” The norm of the standard life course, which is to secure a full-time job immediately after graduation, marry at an appropriate age, and build one’s own family, still resonates with many young people. Previous studies have discussed the problem of young people who cannot follow such a standard life course, but they have not fully discussed the reality of young people who choose not to follow the standard life course. In this study, the following two points were clarified from the results of a survey administered to dream-chasing rock musicians.<br><br>First, they resisted the norms of a standard life course but acknowledged that it was a “right” and “general” way of life. The act of demanding a standard life course―fully acknowledged by the rock musicians as legitimate―created an “understanding” of their surroundings, leading to their decision to continue pursuing their dreams.<br><br>Second, there were two reasons for giving up on their dreams; (1) ironically, continuing to pursue their dreams caused physical and mental problems that made it impossible to pursue them, and (2) even if they worked through the problems, they could not keep up with the norms of the standard life course because of anxieties about the future (i.e., getting older and having given up on their dreams).<br><br>Based on the above findings, the following issues were noted. First, in this study, the dream-chasing musicians were positioned as being gripped by both the demands of late modernity and those of the standard life course. As a result, what became clear was the difficulty of shaping one’s life independently in accordance with the demands of late modernity because of the various problems encountered. The young musicians could not resist the norms of the standard life course that remained strong; thus, they could not follow their dreams for an alternative life course.<br><br>Second, the norm of the standard life course was oppressive, causing many conflicts, anxieties, and difficulties. Ultimately, some young people surveyed were unable to pursue their dreams because of the physical and mental problems that ensued, while others could not endure the anxiety that they felt regarding the future and giving up on their dreams. However, the norm can be said to have an ambiguous nature in that it leads to important second careers for those who have given up on their dreams.</p>