When I was a young girl, I had a lot of dreams. I wanted to be a gymnast and it was heartbreaking when I realized my legs were too long and I had about as much flexibility as piece of wood. No matter how long I practiced and stretched, my legs just wouldn’t split. In my teenage years, I decided I wanted to be a model. Not because I thought I was pretty, but the life seemed so glamorous. It wasn’t until I got my first camera (a C-110 film camera) that I decided I liked taking pictures better and wanted to be a photographer. I drove my sisters crazy with my constant clicking. I put them in trees and bushes, made my own backdrops with sheets, and surrounded them with props. I’d like to blame my lack of success on the crappy camera but truth is, I sucked.
Dreams are different from goals. I have a ton of goals. I want to organize all my closets, pay my bills on time, finish my second novel, learn to speak Chinese before our foreign exchange student arrives from China… But I have just one dream; to see my books in the hands of my readers. Writing is my goal and becoming a successful (okay, famous) author is my dream.
Having a dream and striving to make it come true is scary, I won’t lie. As children, we proudly announce to everyone that we want to be a doctor, a pilot, a super ninja, or a princess. But as adults, no one is going to ask us what we want to be when we grow up. We should already know, right? Wrong. I didn’t know I wanted to become an author until a few years ago. Sure, I wrote poems when I was a teenager, and I read a lot of books but it took me some time to realize I liked writing stories better.
Now, here is the scary part. To make our dreams come true, or at least get a fighting chance, we have to put ourselves out there for the whole world to see. It doesn’t matter if we want to be a successful dancer, musician, writer, actress or business owner, unless we claim it as our own, it will never become more than just a dream. Karen Householder, NY Times Bestselling Author has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
But what if people laugh at me or hate my writing? What if they think I suck?
It’s time to put on our big girl panties. You know the ones with the pretty lace and cute little flowers. The ones we have tucked way back in our dresser drawer because they ride up our butts and give us a wedgy. You guys are not off the hook, either. It’s time to take off those tighty-whiteys and step out of your comfort zone. Hey, no one said this would be easy.
Not everyone is going to agree with or even like what we do. There are people out there more than willing to tell us how bad we suck. These aren’t the people that are going to help us achieve success. These are the people that will bring us down and make us doubt ourselves.
But have no fear because we don’t have to do this alone. We can help each other, support each other, we can be friends. Re-tweet, re-post, make a comment, and hit the “Like” button every now and then, (it’s really easy to do) and together we can make things happen.
Now, if you’re wondering how I got to be so smart, I didn’t figure this out on my own. I had a little help from Kristen Lamb, author of We Are Not Alone (WANA) and Are You There Blog, It’s Me Writer. She “held my hand” through the blog construction phase and gave me the courage to stand up and shout out to the world, “I am a damn good writer and a bestselling author!”
So, if you see me around town digging at my crack, don’t be offended. I’m just reaching for a dream–one wedgy at a time.
Do You have a dream you’d like me to share? I’d love to here about it!!
Karen Householder
Savannah Householder
Karen Householder 