What it is the American Dream, exactly?  I had some vague ideas of what it meant in the context of the Pilgrims, Manifest Destiny,  post-World War II, and what it means today.  I think I understood how each of those generations would define the American Dream (I was a history major, afterall), however, I was curious about the original definition.  I did a little digging (read Googling) and stumbled onto this (emphasis mine):

The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book the Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states:

“The American Dream is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (p.214-215)

I rather like the original definition.  I like knowing that it wasn’t originally written by some marketing agency designed to make us buy things we don’t need to fund a false economy.  In my opinion, that definition is just plain awesome in its simplicity and honesty.  

I’ve been guilty of saying we need a new American Dream, one in which “keeping up with the Joneses” isn’t a factor.  However, I’m changing my tune, I think its time we re-kindled the original dream, a dream in which richer and fuller do not equal money and cars, but rather community and achievement based on our individual talents and abilities.  Not achievement of the latest toys necessarily, but achievement of a contented life that we as individuals have worked towards.

The definition talks about achievement and ability not entitlement.  We are not entitled to the American Dream, we must work for it, we must achieve it with our own abilities.  I think, so often, that gets lost, many of us feel entitled to the American dream simply because we are Americans.  Yet nothing is further from our history, our forefathers believed strongly in hard work.  I believe for the most part a hard work ethic is ingrained in many Americans, however; in this day and age that gets translated into 80 hour work weeks instead of families working hard together to create their own version of the American Dream.

All of this research and thinking has led me to believe, that no matter what definition we use for the American dream, in the end each person needs to define that for themselves.  What is your American Dream and how will you achieve it?  So many of us spend time analyzing this, self-actualizing, thinking, worrying, walking alone inside our brains that we forget to actually live and reach for that dream.  Perhaps defining the individual American Dream is a way to stop thinking and start doing, think of it as writing a personal mission statement. 

In that vain, I’m going to share Kathie’s American Dream: To live a life that is full of love and joy, while refusing to accept that consumerism must be part of my dream.  My dream is a life that is beholden to no one, a life full of hard, rewarding work that leads to self-sufficiency, creativity, and simplicity.

How will I achieve my dream?  I’m going to work on getting out from under our impending mortgage as soon as possible by increasing my income and decreasing my expenses.  I’ve already added several teaching gigs on the side (canning, vermicomposting, and frugality themed), as well as some new personal assistant/bookkeeping gigs to that end.  Expenses will decrease by increased garden production and home food preservation, more handmade/homemade clothing, and less frivolous spending.

Won’t you share your American Dream?  Feel free to do it in the comments or on your own blog, I’m interested in the many definitions that must be out there.