Write Me a Dream

Being young is one of the best feelings that I can think of. Remembering what it was like to be young, however, is quite a bit more painful.

You see, when you're young, you can bounce between three, five, or even more dreams. I went through several dreams when I was younger. I wanted to be an astronaut, a baker, a teacher, a famous chef... I wanted to learn to play the piano, become a great novelist, and be the next great singer / actress. I wanted to live in a warm climate that saw no Winter weather excepting maybe 1-2 inches of snow over the holidays. When you're young you have time for these dreams, and you can change them as often as you want because you have time.

But, as time flew by, not only did my dreams come and go in waves of whim and want but a lot of them ended up taking a back seat as more pressing things came about. Bills had to be paid. I had to eat. I had to feed my cat. Marriage... Hurricanes... College... Divorce... Marriage again.

All of these took precedence over my dreams. So where did I end up? Glad you asked. I ended up with a degree in Human Services Management that is doing me absolutely no good because I attained the degree in a different state. I ended up with a bill for nearly $60,000 in students loans for a degree I can't use and no longer want. I live in a state that appears to be covered in snow more often than not. And I pay the bills by building web sites as an independent contractor working out of the home and constantly reminding myself that I'm out of time - that my dreams are out of time.

Clearly, none of these things were on my list. And worse yet, there is no money left over at the end of the month so that I can find a solution - go back to school, get additional training, or even join a community theater. Then, something extraordinary happened.

I met a new client for web design. He was open and interactive, sending me video clips and content copy to review, edit, and post to his site. And all the while, as I read through his copy and watched his videos, I came to realize that he is out there living his dreams. Note, dreams - not dream. And at the risk of sounding like an after school special or a cliche from an old sitcom, I finally decided that he was right.

It's time I started living my dreams. And so, Write Me a Dream is born - my journey to publication. A manuscript that I started nearly six years ago is being brought back into the light and onto my computer. I will polish, edit, and flush out the chapters of prose for what started as a minor hobby and get that manuscript published.

So why the blog? Because I know me... If I don't try to keep up with myself here, I will let this manuscript fall the way all other dreams have in the past and it will eventually end up at the bottom of my to-do list. Now there is no looking back... It's no longer something that's far-fetched and would be nice to accomplish. Now it's something I have to do.

I would also like to take the time to thank and credit Sayra at DeviantArt for the background image I used for this blog. The poem, "Write me a Dream", featured on her background image is my own; but her artwork truly makes everything work.