"There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams.' Then they put the box away and bring it out once in awhile to look in it, and yep, they're still there. These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, 'How good or how bad am I?' That's where courage comes in.” ― Erma Bombeck
So I've become a person with a box of dreams. I don't quite know how it happened, but there it is. A box. It's not even a pretty box. It's plain and paper bag brown. It's not very heavy, which is surprising. With all of the things that it holds you think it would weight a ton. Turns out dreams don't weigh very much, it's the product of dreams that carry the weight. A dream is only a thought. Sometimes fleeting, sometimes constant, but it's nothing substantive, not until you put it into action.
I've decided to take one of my dreams out of the box and put it into action. I was sitting down with a friend of mine tonight and I was looking through my previous blogs for a specific entry, which I didn't find, and I saw all of the ideas that I had swimming around in my head, the summaries that I had put onto paper. It's my dream to write. It's my dream to be published. It's my ULTIMATE dream to make enough money writing to be able to do it full-time. So why is it that I can't seem to find the time to do it? Why is it that I push it aside? I can admit that sometimes it's just because I'm lazy. I work 6 days a week and on my one day off I like to sit around and vegetate or watch football, or baseball, or Arrow. I mean really, who can't get behind a couple of hours of Oliver Queen? But that's not what I dream of. Okay, it's hardly what I dream of. Sometimes I dream of Oliver Queen, but I swear it's not often.
So, that's what I'm going to do. Stop dreaming and start acting. I want to finish at least one story this year. Even if it sucks. I have a variety that I could choose from. Jack & Carly, Megan, the actress & the bodyguard, the murder mystery. I just have to finish one of them. It doesn't have to be ready to send out to anyone, just complete. Baby steps.
You had a good start on Jack and Carly. I still remember their story beginnings. I remember writing during lunch, when I worked full-time. And at bedtime after everyone else was asleep and the house was quiet enough I could hear the voices whispering around me. I wrote at The Only's sporting events--between games and such. I wrote while dinner cooked. Like I told my critique partner and others who talked about no energy or no time or no inspiration or no...whatever. When you really want something, you make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm over here shaking my pompoms and cheering you on! You go, girl!
You go, Erika! Like Silver, I remember Jack and Carly and thought it was very good! Looking forward to following you on your 'dream' journey, my friend.
ReplyDeleteBTW - I love this line: "Turns out dreams don't weigh very much, it's the product of the dreams that carry the weight." Profound!
Silver and Janet, you have always been great cheerleaders! Thank you so much for your support. I am trying to spend more time writing and thinking about writing to get my ass back on track. You don't know how much it means to me that you still come here and read my blogs even though I've been dormant for some time. You are the best!
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