Dreams can be scary. Dreams are those big ideas that we are too scared to share. They often live in the backs of our minds and hearts, the space we hesitate to let anyone see. What if we fail? What if we look foolish? What if no one understands?
But what if…What if that big scary dream is exactly who you are? What if it’s exactly who you are suppose to be? What if you succeed? What if people are just waiting to cheer you on?
My big, scary dream
I have a big, scary dream. I’ve always wanted to be an author. To share my stories with the world. To see a book with my name printed on the cover. To see it grace the shelves of libraries or bookstores.
But I always thought that dreams aren’t real things. Education, jobs, commitments…those are real things. But this dream hidden in the recesses of my mind has never died. Fear hid it from me, but it never really died. Deep down, I think I convinced myself that writing wasn’t a real option for me so I began teaching others to write. But as a mom, I’ve always encouraged creativity and dreaming with my kids. My daughter has always “written stories,” even before she could write. Journals and notebooks filled with crayon swirls and dots make up her earliest “stories.” With every stroke of the crayon, she would babble her little stories. Those swirls became doodles and words, which led to sentences, paragraphs and illustrations. I have so many bound “books” that she’s written. Most of her stories are her own adaptations of TV shows she’s watched or stories she’s read, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?! And if I’m encouraging them to reach for their dreams, how can I not stretch for my own?
Well, one in particular story she wrote about Elle the Elephant has swirled around in my brain for years. So about a year ago, I wrote a manuscript and reached out to some publishers. After weighing my options, we chose a publisher and began the process. Ellie’s Dream is on its way to becoming a reality! Ellie herself was inspired by the image of my daughter and her boundless imagination. She is why Ellie is here and will forever serve to inspire me.
Abundantly 