Diving into Your Dreams

” TO DREAM ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DREAM.THERE’S THE BEAUTY OF THE HUMAN MIND. TO DO ANYTHING THAT YOU WANT TO DO.THAT’S THE STRENGTH OF THE HUMAN WILL. TO TRUST YOURSELF TO TEST YOUR LIMITS.THAT IS THE COURAGE TO SUCCEED.”~ Bernard Edmonds.

     Whenever I think about all the times I have wished for balance in my life, I feel frustrated and even defeated. Of course, I want balance. I have always wanted balance. I want to be able to do everything I want to do. And, of course, I want to do it NOW. There , I said it. So when I read Dan Blank’s  incredible post,” Stop Looking for Balance”, I felt an instant relief. What a refreshing thought. It seemed like he wrote that post just for me. I really liked his idea that we need to rearrange our priorities to fit our goals. This always involves some sort of sacrifice,but it is important that the sacrifice doesn’t include our most important priorities. In other words, forget trying to balance everything and be willing to sacrifice lesser priorities for your main ones, your dreams.”Dive into your dreams”. He goes on to say that you have to decide how badly you want that dream. Sometimes looking for balance can actually stand in your way. So if I have a dream of publishing, I have to figure out how badly I want it  and work it in,knowing I can’t do it all. PHEW!

     As a student in Dan’s Author Platform course, I have experienced many “AHA” moments. I’m experiencing firsthand by doing  how social media will be the foundation for launching my dreams of publishing. Building a community of followers now has real meaning as I connect with fellow writers and classmates on twitter:@porteranderson,@friendgrief,@judithklinger,@rebeccabricker,@jenjhenderson,@terrytobias ,on blogs http://pattymackz.com/wordpress/ and on phone conferences,Jean Perry and Brian Fitzgerald. And, I feel like I am right on the front line of what is happening in the publishing industry i.e, I have downloaded Jane Friedman’s amazing ebook ,”The Future of Publishing:Enigma Variations.” It’s a deal for $1.99, a must-read for anyone interested in publishing. Here’s a big shout out to both Jane for writing this and Christina Katz for inspiring her to write it. Another plug for the benefits of social media. It’s like a great big group hug.

     But, the challenge remains: how to fit all this into an already busy schedule? Here’s another great post by blogger Susan Johnston of The Urban Muse on time management. Susan reviews Laura Vanderkam’s  book, 168 Hours:You Have More Time Than You Think, highlighting tips for finding time to do the things we really want to do without sacrificing priorities.

     I still love that I can stop agonizing over finding balance. Thanks Dan! I can dive into my dreams which I will do now. My Author Platform classmate Viki Noe has a terrific blog,FriendGrief which focuses on dealing with the death of a friend. Her post this week prompted this dream memory about Judy, my best friend for 20 years. Judy died of breast cancer in 1993. In 1998, as I was facing a peripheral stem cell transplant for NonHodgkin’s Lymphoma, I had the following dream:

“In the Midst of Cancer, I Dare to Dream”

     The staircase is broad,yet steep.  Looking down from the landing,I see a large room filled with tables of people laughing and playing cards. I see my great uncles,Uncle Freddie, Uncle Albert, Uncle Jerry,Uncle Andy,slamming down the cards on the table and throwing their heads back in laughter as they shout out in Italian. I smile,warmed by the fond memories of our times together.

     As I turn to head up the staircase,my Nana rushes by. She is wearing a flowered cotton house dress covered by her trademark tan canvas apron. 

     “Nan.” I yell, so excited to see her again.

     But, she keeps on walking by me,without even looking.

     Why doesn’t she want to talk with me?, I ask myself.

     Deflated and puzzled, I pause before I start up the staircase. I don’t know where it leads but I know I must climb it.

     “Oh my gosh,” I stop in the middle ,”there’s Judy.” She is also in a hurry.

     “Judy.” I flag her down,waving frantically.

      She stops. Impeccably dressed  in a two-piece navy pinstripe suit, she stands straight and tall, holding on to  a clipboard. Her dazzling blue eyes pierce my gaze as she turns to look at me.

      I am spellbound.

     “I’m at home, Kathy and I’m doing fine.” she says as she starts to move away.

     Reaching out to touch her arm, I climb up the stairs behind her,

     “But,Judy,” I ask, “Judy,what about me?”

      The momentary silence suspends heavy in the air.

     Turning to me, with her hands on my shoulders,she looks me in the eye, as her words ring clear,

     “Kathy, you’re going to be fine.”

     And then,I wake up.

This is not about balance. This is about diving into a dream and running with it~

What are the dreams you want to dive into?