Every Success Starts with a Dream ( #IWSG )

     ONCE upon a time I dreamed that something would happen in my future.  And it did happen, though maybe not quite like I dreamed it, but still it happened to some extent and that was a good thing.  The even better thing is that this happened more than once in my life...




The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 

The co-hosts for the December 4 posting of the IWSG are Tonja Drecker, Beverly Stowe McClure, Nicki Elson, Fundy Blue, and Tyrean Martinson!

December 4 question - Let's play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream? Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest of us. What would you change or improve?

Never Too Old to Dream

           No expectations.  That's what I've learned in my life.  Sure, I still go into experiences with certain expectations, but as I get older I've tried more to go with the flow of my life and not build up expectations that are shattered once I've realized that things often don't turn out like I thought or even hoped they would.  An expectation can be a set-up for disappointment and sadness.

            Dreams are fine when fueling internal conversations and forays into imaginations, but dreams are never attained by just dreaming them.  Dreams can conceivably come true in some cases with no action, but something like writing requires doing something about it.  And just writing alone doesn't mean success until that writing gets into the hands of someone who can do something with it or one takes the personal initiative to self-publish or take whatever action works.  But as is usually the case, we have to figure out what works best for us and what our definition of success is.

         Life is filled with surprises good and bad.  What we do with the unexpected in our lives has everything to do with how happy and fulfilled we are.  Persistence may not always lead to winning, but to keep on pushing forward will get us further than we can ever get by just sitting at home filled with hopes and dreams.

         As far as writing dreams for me are concerned, I'm much further along now than I ever got some fifty or so years ago when I was in passionate pursuit of writing.  Through the years those pursuits ebbed and waned while never particularly flowing.  Blogging has helped since it's given me an easy creative outlet for my word expression, but I'd still like to see something more come of my writing in the future.  Not that I'm making many efforts to that pursuit.  If something comes as a result of my actions then fine.   I'm likely not visualizing to a great enough extent to chase down that writing dream and definitely not writing like I should be.  Still, I'm okay with that.  When the feeling overpowers me to write, then I'll write and if I don't write then I'll do something else.  Just so I'm doing something that calms my restless spirit.

         When the right dreams come then I guess I'll know.  Or at least I'll be on an adventure and adventures can last a lifetime.  I'm not sure how much longer that life will be, but in a way it doesn't matter.  The present is what matters most because now is all we really know and even that knowledge can be tenuous and filled with questions.

         Tomorrow will have its way as we pass from day to day...

         Are you a careful planner or do you enjoy rafting along the river of life?   Has the fulfillment of a dream ever taken you by surprise?   Where would you like to be in ten years?



        If you haven't voted in my Battle of the Bands yet then please drop by to vote on your favorite song version.

       

Network to Success ( #AtoZ )

If you plan to build a skyscraper, don't count on doing it all yourself.  A big job calls for a lot of expertise, muscle, and, of course, money...

Starting the conversation.

   
        Throughout my A to Z series This Is Me, I've been at times alluding to something that has been occupying my time and thoughts of late.  Maybe this hasn't been clear, but that doesn't matter that much either. For the most part I've been thinking out loud on generalized topics.  However I'll simply state that right now I'm still in a dreaming stage at a point where the dreams are turning into plans.

         There's nothing I want to say specifically about what all of this means except that I'm going to need to reach out to connect with other people who might be thinking on a similar wavelength as I am currently on.  This is L.A.--I can probably find plenty of like-minded individuals here.

         What this means is that I'm going to have to do a lot of networking in order to make connections.  As usual I'm a big dreamer, but you can't fulfill a dream until you've dreamed it.  I know I can't achieve my biggest dreams on my own.  Now is the time to start building a network that will help me do what I need to get done.

          Maybe nothing will happen.  Or maybe it will.  I'm retired and I'm not doing anything else right now.  Why not dream?

           ******If you haven't voted on my recent Battle of the Bands I'd appreciate it if you'd click on the link and tell us your favorite performance ******


          Do you think when people retire that they should just essentially, uh, retire?    Have you ever come up with what seemed like a great idea but you were cautious about revealing it to others?   To any degree, have you accomplished fulfilling a dream despite pushback from many quarters?

Driving a Dream ( #AtoZChallenge )

I've got my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel.
I'm encased in my solitude of plastic and steel...
                                                    --Arlee Bird

         
         Driving on the open highways has been something I've always liked to do from the time I first got my license.  Sometimes I dream about driving--in sleep dreams or otherwise.  In my office I keep a road atlas to which I frequently refer.  For me, a map can be as good as the Mona Lisa.  Maybe better.  I can look at a map much longer.

            Maps trigger dreams of adventures to places away from home.  My mind wanders along the colored lines as I visualize those places.  Driving on those roads brings it all to reality.  There are people in places most of us rarely dream about and those people have their own dreams.  I am one of many.

           What are my dreams?  Certainly not to fade away into a complacency of retirement as I wait to leave this Earth one day--hopefully one day many more years into the future.  I'm mostly dreaming and scheming.  Talking about dreams can bore others or have them roll up their eyes and scrunch their mouths in expressions of doubt. 

           As I write my blog posts for my "This Is Me" theme I am likely creating some sort of impressionistic view into my dream mind without actually coming to any specific point.  Perhaps I'm trying to avoid those chides that I'm too old to be planning for any future that includes dreaming about things I might yet achieve--or maybe won't.

           Too old?  Not me, not yet.  I plan to drive a dream to its destination.  And if I don't make it to that destination, hopefully I will have had a pleasant journey anyway.  For now I'm behind the wheel with a tank full of gas.

           Do you think you will ever stop dreaming?   When you get tired or discouraged what do you do to re-energize?   If you were going to take a long trip how would you prefer to travel?






           

Dream Big #atozchallenge

Climb_Mayan Temple_Coba_Mexico_Sep12 (Photo credit: Ian Halsey)

            Success always starts with a dream.  Big dreams can lead to big success just as much as they can lead to big failures.   The key is to dream realistically.   Daydreaming about fantasies can be fun and have a place in our lives, but those fantasy dreams should not be our main vehicle to use on the road to reaching success.

            There's certainly nothing wrong with starting out with a big dream.  You might want to start big in order to get enthusiastic.  Then you have to put the dream into realistic perspective.  Understand how you can make a big dream succeed within your means and abilities.

              If it's a marketing campaign you're putting together, you want a decent return on your efforts.  You want to get the word out about your product in the most effective way to reach the broadest audience.  Do the research to see what has worked best for others and decide if that might be the same thing that could work for you.  Enlist the aid of those who are willing to help you.   Others want to see you succeed. They are often willing to share in your dream.

             Don't dream bigger than your reality. You wouldn't want to lose money on your marketing efforts.  If you do invest in marketing try to look beyond the initial campaign to see if you are laying a foundation for future campaigns.   Diversify your marketing attempts.  If you dump all of your resources into one big advertisement you are taking a risky gamble.  Be careful about not spending more on the marketing that you will realistically recoup in the sales of your product.  The marketplace may not believe in your product as much as unrealistic dreams can lead you to believe.

           Dream big on the first day, then think realistically on the second.   Hope for the best, but don't have any expectation that all will turn out as you imagined.   You don't get to the top of a mountain by flapping your arms and flying.  You have to climb the mountain to get to the top and often it can be a tough climb with many obstacles.  You might have to try more than once.  Sometimes you won't even make it to the top of that mountain.   But there is always another mountain to climb.

           Don't ever stop dreaming.   Dream big.  Dream often.  And most importantly be sure to act on those dreams.
         
           Do you give up easily when things get tough?    How have others helped you attain a dream?    Has there been a time when you invested too much in the pursuit of a dream?

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Other Dreams, Other Mysteries

          HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

        Back before Christmas I discussed dreams, the kind we have while asleep.  Today is the start of a new year and it might be a good time to look at another type of dream--the dreams of ambitions, hopes, desires, and the things that have fueled us in the past and fire us up now.  Specifically I want to look at the mystery of lost dreams and the new hope of dreams to come.

          Can you remember your childhood dreams?  What you wanted to be when you grew up?  If you're like me you probably went through stages.  There were fanciful fantasies of childhood based on movies and television and the desire to emulate adults whom we admired.  Then as we grew older we may have started shaping those original fantasies into future realities or diverged onto  different pursuits.  Perhaps high school influenced us, or college changed us, or some job we took made us formulate new goals.  There were bills, spouses, houses, and families. We may have had many dreams that changed many times.

           In middle school, one of my teachers, Mr. Dinsmore, gave us an assignment.  We were to come up with five dreams, that is, five possible career choices that we would like to pursue in the future. My five choices in descending order were professional entertainer, professional musician, writer, photographer, and teacher.  Throughout high school these stayed prominent for me, but as college approached I added psychologist to the list.

          When I enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1969 my major was my new dream of Psychology. After a couple of years I became disillusioned with psychology and switched to English with the intent of going into teaching.  This was a time when I began writing fervantly and submitting works to publications with constant rejection.

         Eventually, as I was nearing my graduation, I dropped out of college and just lingered for a period. It was during this time I met up with a magician who had a touring show.  He made me an offer and soon I was on the road working as a professional entertainer-- number one goal achieved.  After a couple of years of this, I had gotten married.  When my wife became pregnant we quit the road and settled in Richmond, VA. Here I was networked with somebody who needed a fiddle player for a dinner theater production of the musical "The Robber Bridegroom".  Next thing I know, I'm a member of the musician's union and working as a professional musician--dream number two achieved.

         Later, there was another decade on the road with touring shows, where I was the manager, a position that I liked a great deal.  Then another eighteen years managing a warehouse-- not a huge dream, but being the guy in charge was still definitely to my liking.  And now here I am writing.  Prior to the middle school project and throughout high school, college, and all the rest, writing was my truest passion.  Now I am again working at the writing dream and hoping to make a living at it.

         There's a connection in this history of events.  First the initial dream was stirred. If one is thinking of a dream and networking in the right channels, achieving the dream to some extent is almost a given.  I may have never achieved stardom or big bucks, but I made a living and was satisfied and to me that is achieving a dream successfully.

         Yet I have known and heard about so many people who dreamed and nothing happened.  Why?  Was the passion not strong enough?  Or perhaps they just never made the right contacts.  Writing, like show business, is a dreamer's game.  But to achieve, first you have to do it.  You cannot reach your dream if you don't try.  Then, if you are trying it becomes a matter of attitude, persistence, confidence,  and meeting people in the field you are pursuing.

        Still, there are the sad stories of the people that had what it takes, who tried, and never made it.  Or perhaps they just didn't make it to the level they dreamed and saw themselves as failures.  The aspirations of the artist, the creative person, and the dreamer are different than the person who just wants to earn a paycheck, pay their bills, and maybe take the family on a vacation every year.  There is often more frustration and self-doubt involved.  Failure is a mystery.  Or is it?

         How have your dreams changed in your life?  Or did they change?   What do others think about your dreams and about the milestones you consider successes?  In what dreams did you fall short in the past year?   What are your dreams for 2010 and how are you going to achieve them?