Yesterday’s post on defining the dream got me thinking: if I could be anywhere, doing anything … where would I be, and what would I be doing?
It’s a question worth asking. Here’s why: without direction and vision, life devolves into habit. We spin our wheels. We do what we’ve always done, just because we’ve always done it. Then, one day, we look up — and decades have gone by.
I don’t want to be someone who gets hypnotized by routine. I don’t want to be lulled into putting things off until tomorrow. I don’t want to be that person who, decades later, realizes he never tried to make his dreams come true.
Step One, then, is simply defining what I’m working toward: the life I want, the place I to be in, and the work I want to be doing there. So here goes:
Right up front, wherever I go and whatever I’m doing, I want Clyde with me. If my life ended today (God forbid!), I could go out knowing that I found someone I really, truly loved to share this life with. Despite the fact that we’ve been together almost fifteen years now, I’m not with Clyde simply out of habit — I’m with him because he’s the love of my life. He’s practical and stable; he’s my foundation, my one constant in a world of unpredictability. WIthout him, I’d be lost.
Where will I be? Since I’m dreaming, there’s no reason to limit myself … so I’ll disclose exactly what I want. We’ve traveled the world, and we’ve visited many different cities. But there’s something I really, deeply, truly love about Atlanta, GA. During the short seventeen months we lived there, we both blossomed: becoming involved in church, healing old wounds, meeting people who became members of our family, and relishing everything the city had to offer.
In my dream, then, there’s a space reserved in one of Midtown’s high-rise condos for me. It’s compact, with just enough square footage for me to have a private writing space. It has to be convenient, with easy access to the homes of our friends … and it has to have a jaw-dropping view. Frankly? I think I’m after a spot in this very tower.
At least, that will be our home address ten or eleven months of the year. I expect we’ll spend winters in either Chiang Mai (hosting retired friends who’ve opened their Thai handicrafts import business) or Sydney or, since I’m dreaming … why not live for one month out of the year in a different country of our choosing? I can write from anywhere, and the thrill of exploring a new city from a resident’s perspective will give me lots of story fuel to burn.
What will I be doing? I’ve thought long and hard about this, so here goes:
1) writing novels and/or screenplays. I’ve always wanted to write stories people love. From the very beginning, novels were the dream. Novels and screenplays are the best venues for creating work that a lot of people get to see … but I don’t want to spend all my time hunched over the keyboard, so…
2) leading workshops. Nothing energizes me or delights me like speaking to a crowd — especially when I’m delivering a message people can use to change their lives for the better. That kind of speaking has been a part of every job I’ve ever enjoyed: preaching, teaching Sunday School, teaching at the university, delivering corporate training, offering workshops to writers and Tarot enthusiasts. Based on feedback, I do it pretty well — so why not do more of it? That will also make it easy for me to be…
3) writing accessible “how to books” and magazine articles. Not everyone can make it to a workshop … so these step-by-step, non-fiction how-to books and articles will become a way for me to share expertise and insight with folks who can’t make it to a city where I’m making an appearance.
If I’m wise, I’ll be sure these books, stories, screenplays, and articles are focused on the subjects I’m passionate about: spirituality, relationships, travel, and food. That would have me writing and talking every day about the things that matter most to me. That would have me getting up every day and saying, “I can’t wait to get to work!”
4) Implied in all this, of course, is the idea that my books and workshops and writing are generating opportunities lucrative enough to support a Midtown Atlanta lifestyle.
So that’s it: that’s the dream. In my corporate days, I was an expert in gap analysis: defining the gap between what is and what is wanted … and then outlining the steps to “close the gap.”
Right now, I’m here at Point A: Jackson, MS. I’m leading the occasional workshop (for which I’m grateful). I’m writing a lot of books — but not generating the income needed to fund the purchase of a spot in The City.
Out there is Point B: the glittering skyline of Midtown, the schedule packed with workshops, the books I’ve written that people love.
All I need now is a plan for crossing the gap.
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