Letting Your Dreams Evolve

Filed in: Life | Writing

I wanted to be an actress. (Yes, this is me, a long time ago…wish I had the originals.) Only I wasn’t very good. I acted in college and a lot in the 90s. Let’s just say that I did a lot of musicals ‘cause I can sing better than I can act. . .

I wanted to be a doctor, and took every science course I could in high school, going as far as enrolling in pre-med biology and chemistry classes in college. Then I hit calculus . . .

I wanted to be a vet . . . OK, that lasted only until the first series of allergy shots . . .

I wanted to be a musician. This involved more than a decade of piano, flute, piccolo, guitar, vocal, and bagpipe lessons. I sat first chair flute for two years in my high school band, even taking a turn at directing when I was a senior. Now I’m really good with the penny whistle . . .

I’ve had classes in Spanish, German, and French. I used German as my translation language for my master’s degree. Now I know just enough of each to get me in a great deal of trouble . . .

In college, I went through FIVE majors: music, mass communications, theater, pre-med, and English. I couldn’t even make up my mind about a MINOR – I wound up with an interdisciplinary minor, Modern European Studies, which included two classes each from the political science, history, and foreign language departments . . .

Sounds a lot like I can’t really make up my mind, doesn’t it? But, if you’re a writer, you know where I’m going with all this.

I started spinning yarns and making up imaginary friends before I could read, and I’ve been typing out stories since I turned ten. God knew, and so did I, what I would be. The world said, you’ll never make a living at it. So I followed other interests, other dreams, even as I scribbled in my closet at night.

Truth is, I am a writer. It’s the one thing I do better than anything else; it’s the one thing I CAN make a living at, provided I work hard enough and stay open enough to what works and what doesn’t. As long as I listen to HIM, and absorb the rest, I’ll be OK.

Because the rest was not, definitely not, a waste of my time. Everything I’ve done; every experience I’ve had or will have, is merely fodder for the writing.

So if you have moments when you’re a little unfocused or blocked, or if you have kids who just can’t quite make up their minds about the future, embrace the moments and each luscious experience. Then put your head up, focus on Him, and keep going.

It’s worth the journey.

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