Dreams and Souls

It took me a long time to get to this point in my life. I tried to take this part of my life and put it in a box because it didn't fit with the life I thought I wanted, nor did it fit with the life others encouraged me to follow. I did have two teachers that tried to encourage me, but I was too young to appreciate or understand the compliments they gave me.

It wasn't until years later that I began to grasp just how good my writing could be. It wasn't that people told me my writing was great, it was because they told me they wanted more. More of characters mentioned only once, of an unfinished short story, or about a world I created. It was in this moment that I realized that I have a talent that I was ignoring.

When I made the decision not just to become a creative writer but to pursue it, I felt something that I hadn't felt in a long time - whole. It might sound weird or cheesy, but it's true. By reconnecting with the writer in me, I found the missing piece of my soul. I felt empty for a long time and always attributed it to the loss of close friends and family members that I experienced in high school.

Sure, the loss of those people effected me greatly and a couple of them played a big role in who I am today, but the reason my soul was hurting and felt incomplete was because I had shut off a large part of my soul from myself. Now that it has been released, I feel whole, complete, and happy. I may not be published yet, but I am finally heading in the right direction. I am not just sitting on the edge waiting for my wings to grow and wondering if I'll ever fly, I am stretching them out and flapping, waiting for the wind to catch me!

I would like to know - What is your dream? Are you living it? If not, why not? How does that make you feel?