Most of us dream of what we want to be, but what stops us from becoming what we dream we can be? As children, we grow up with ideas about work. Doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs...the usual goals. Some of us know from the time we can form thoughts what we will be. Others land in careers that drive our destinations, but what makes the difference?
For me, writing was always my passion, but it wasn't my primary focus. I worked in the corporate world, raised a family, cooked, cleaned, and trudged along...all the while still hoping. I hoped that one day I would write for a living. You know what? It didn't happen. I wrote, but it wasn't all the time. Okay, that's an understatement. I wrote in spurts. Huge lapses of time fell in between those efforts, and more often than not, I shelved them. Then technology would shift, and my organizer side would kick in gear. I moved my projects from legal pads to print, from 5.25 floppy disk to 3.5 and so it went. Dusty boxes of printed paper, containers of disks, and file folders moved with us from place to place...and still I hoped.
Then in 2007 everything changed. I went through a career shift that left me feeling extremely underwhelmed. I skittered from office to home, still doing the daily tasks that validated my existence; but my dissatisfaction with it all festered. I daydreamed about what it would be like to be able to undo, redo, or simply change the "things" that happen in life. I believe with all my heart, that those daydreams made the difference. I found myself thinking "what if?" and then I started writing. The Weaver Series grew from there. I kept writing, and I let my daydreams run wild. I began to talk about them, and think about them, and I kept writing.
I wrote so much and so often that it became ingrained in my daily routine. Somewhere in between this we moved to a rural area and I kept right on writing. I took on work as a journalist with a local newspaper, and while that wasn't my primary job, I was finding myself inspired all the more to write.
Today I work as a copywriter, a freelance journalist, and I've published two books in the Weaver Series: Remember Me, and Dark Weaver. I'm able to say these things because I allowed myself to dream and then I took action. Consistent action...and it made things change.
What Makes the Difference
Our dreams are nothing more than dusty hopes if we fail to follow them with consistent action. It doesn't matter how badly we want something, or how much we hope that it will happen if we do nothing to make it happen. How many times have you heard the saying, "do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life?" Well, there's truth in those words but you may not realize that the key part of that statement is "do something!"
So with all that said, I highly encourage you to dust off your hopes and turn them back into dreams. Start thinking about them, and allow yourself to dream like a child again. Consider all of the "what ifs" that apply to you, and then do something! It truly does make the difference.
