The desire to be successful cannot be described easily, however sometimes it takes an epiphany of sorts to make you think about your chosen career path; one of those moments when you are watching the world go by; especially on a Monday morning!
I was sitting in my car while waiting for my local pharmacy to open, when I realised that the hustle and bustle of the morning peak hour somehow seemed irrelevant in the scheme of things! Yes this could be considered a clique, but for that split moment I couldn't understand why anyone, including those suit-cladded individuals, would want to spend hours in their day just trying to get to their small cubicle-like offices, where of course they would drudge away at mundane tasks. Everyone to their own I am sure, but isn't life about doing what you like to do? When did we go from the idealistic teenage view of living our dreams to just finding a job to pay the bills? I can hear you all screaming, no maybe these people are doing what they like!Well maybe, but I do not think the frowns on their faces show that they are happy to be off to work.
For me, the risk to do what I love, is of course a high price to pay. Do I live my life writing because I get paid a fortune for my wonderful words? I do not think so! Although in my dreams it is true! I do it because I cannot see myself doing anything else; not even for a pay check. I guess that is idealistic and somewhat naive but if I cannot imagine my life without writing a single story; a single article, then I feel I would not be living my own truth! (Oh! That is so Oprah!)
The great thing about being a writer is that the dream of being published is always there, no matter whether you have had a hundred books under your belt, and you still feel a sense of accomplishment with every new one. Every new story and every new novel will be another challenge; there is that moment of sheer exhilaration when you are looking for the right publisher for the piece and hoping for someone (the Editor, hopefully) to love what you have written. To always desire more from yourself as a writer is exciting, and I hope that this feeling never ceases because I like the anticipation of buying that newspaper and seeing my review in print or having my story published in an anthology!
For me this is not a job but a personal journey to unknown worlds; one which continues giving me butterflies!
I hope it does the same for you!
'I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish'- Michelangelo
Too right! All writers, the good, the bad and the ever aspiring, all continue to dream of being published, read, encouraged to produce more tantalising eye fodder for an ever hungry audience.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how many times we've been published, or even 'if' at all, it's a dream, we follow it willingly and knowingly, that perhaps we'll never fulfil it. But that's part of the journey. That's what's important, not the origin or the destination, but all the fun and heartbreak along the way.
It doesn't matter if we're never published by a big name publishing house. If we share our works with our friends, family and colleagues, and they read it, criticise or applaud it, then we have reached our goal. We can and should be proud of that.
A pay-check may be a means to an end, but it should never be the means to your end. Write from the heart, be true to yourself and you will be heard and in turn encourage others to find their voice.