Posted by: Genene Valleau
Status: Steady progress
Lisa's post on Monday touched on something that resonated with me: EVERY member of our RWA chapter is special and unique, as is the role they play in our chapter.
Some members have the drive and energy to be officers. Others make presentations or offer their thoughts on the blog. Still others come to meetings occasionally and then quietly go back to their lives.
We all have one thing in common: the dream of writing.
Yet even the dream of writing takes different forms: New York Times bestseller, a steady income from electronic books, finishing a manuscript, or just trying out the dream of writing to see if it fits.
The economic upheaval, raising children, family emergencies, full-time jobs or the need to find a job, as well as a variety of other situations have forced many people to prioritize how they will spend their resources and their time.
For some chapter members, that may mean writing will play a smaller role in their lives for now. Others have followed different dreams, while some of our members have renewed their commitment to writing and are even more productive.
At this time of year when many people make resolutions, it occurred to me that perhaps we should make dreams first.
Some of you may already do this. Do you think about what you want your life to be? Do your goals and resolutions support your dreams?
I think a new storyboard will be added to my wall--one that includes visual reminders of my dreams for the upcoming year.
Happy New Year! Happy dreaming!
12 comments:
Nice post, Genene.
I like your idea of a story board of dreams. What one is aspiring to accomplish either through life or through writing.
It reminds me of the one I have on my bulletin board that we made several years ago with one of our speakers. I can't remember who it was, but I still have the poster board and I look at it every so often and see how many of the things in the collage I've done.
Happy Hew Year, Everyone!!!
Genene, I love the picture you used. How cute is that dog?
Dreams. Nice. Better than resolutions which seem to focus on past failures or perceived failures. Dreams are the future.
My dream is for my creative mind to snap back to life. Right now it is apparently dealing with things even my conscious mind isn't overly concerned with. At least I think that's what's going on. I'm willing to be patient -- for awhile but something has gotta give!
I like the idea of a storyboard filled with dreams. Paty -- maybe you could teach us how you made yours. Or Genene or maybe you could both give a workshop!
Happy dreaming. Happy New Year!
Ooooooh. I like the idea of a collage of dreams meeting . . . . Contact me, Genene/Paty if either or both of you would like to make that happen in the next year.
My dream is to be able to walk into a bookstore and see my books and to get fan mail from teenage girls. I also dream of a clean house, well-behaved toddlers who actually sleep, and students who listen to me :) As I wrote this, I realized that really, I dream of a life where I wouldn't rather be doing anything other than what I'm doing at that point in time, and I realized that I *DO* live that life about 80% of the time. That's pretty darn nifty even if I'm not where I want to be professionally.
Alice and Wavy the storyboard/poster is easy, but if you want to have a meeting where we all make one, I'm open. Genene, you want to do it with me?
Wavy, it sounds like your life is going just like you want, as is mine. Oh I dream about being with a larger publisher and making more money, but I really wouldn't change a thing in my life at the moment.
Hi, Paty! I'm impressed that you still have the storyboard we did several years ago.
Su Lute (from the Portland chapter) led that workshop and it was such fun! Though I remember it was colors that caught my eye rather than actual photos. I'm sure there's a message in that also, but I haven't delved into healing colors to find that deeper message.
Happy New Year to you also!
Hi, Alice! You may have guessed the doggie picture is one of my crew. The rowdiest one and the most cuddly. Go figure!
"Dreams. Nice. Better than resolutions which seem to focus on past failures or perceived failures. Dreams are the future." I like the way you worded this. That's what I thought also. And dreams also get our subconscious minds on board so we can carry out the resolutions on a physical level.
Perhaps your creative mind is taking a well-deserved break to "refill the well," as I've heard some writers say. Last year was an intense one for you in many ways. You deserve this "play" time.
And I'd be up for co-leading a dream storyboard session at one of our meetings. As I recall, everyone jumped right in and had a great time. We brought magazines to cut photos, words, and ideas from; then glued them on poster paper. At the end, people who wanted to share their storyboard did so. It was like being in kindergarten or first grade again--fun!
"I dream of a life where I wouldn't rather be doing anything other than what I'm doing at that point in time..."
This is perfect, Wavy! And if you're there 80% of the time, that's wonderful! It's sad that some people never get to that point.
And, as I mentioned in response to Alice, I'd be willing to co-lead a dream storyboard workshop at one of our meetings. There's not much prep work and the workshop seems to carry itself along because it's such fun.
Hi, Paty! I just now saw your comment about co-leading a dream storyboard workshop at a meeting. (Need to remind myself to read ahead. :)
And, yes, I'm up for that. So start saving your magazines, everyone!
I can start collecting inspirational images and collage stuff and ask my pack rat mother to do the same. I love your willingness to share your talents.
Thank you, Wavy, for collecting images and other inspirational materials. If others who can do the same, we'll have a great collection for this workshop.
Wonderful post, Genene! Happy New Year :) I've been on a quasi-hiatus this week from the interwebs. Took vacation from work and have been focused on cleaning and organizing my house. I've got a zillion emails to reply to (sorry everyone!) As for dreams, I do find this to be very important. Particularly, for me personally, over the past couple of years when I decided to make a career change to be an archaeologist. That's a dream, and everything I do toward that is broken down into manageable goals like getting a degree in anthropology, applying to grad schools, getting field work experience. I haven't been as diligent and dedicated with my writing dream, I hope to do better with that in 2010!
Happy New Year, Lisa!
I hope you made good progress on getting your house organized. That's something I need to bet back to doing and I've been in my house over 20 years. So you shoudn't feel bad about being in your house for a year without being totally organized. :)
Sounds like you're way ahead of a lot of folks with goal setting. For me, it seems like dreams ebb and flow. Sometimes one dream takes most of my time, then another becomes the focus. Maybe 2010 will be the year your writing dream really takes off!
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