Monday, December 13, 2010

Action: Time to grow up and chase that dream!

This blog is part of a series of posts that chronicle my participation in Reverb 10. Reverb 10 is an online event that encourages its participants to reflect on the past year and gear up for what's to come in the next. A prompt is given each day to fuel some personal reflection. Although I'm a little late on starting the challenge, I'm still looking forward to 18 days of honesty, acceptance, and growth.

December 13 – Action

When it comes to aspirations, it’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen. What’s your next step?
(Author: Scott Belsky)


This is a very timely prompt for me, as it allows me to briefly reflect on a very recent decision concerning my plans for the coming year.

I've been fumbling towards some semblance of a future for five years now. I've attended two colleges with two different majors: English Education and Communications. Despite being put on the conveyor belt of institutionalized learning, I never felt comfortable. Nothing in my academic endeavors has inspired a passion to keep going. I've have felt as though I've been living a purposeless life with no end in sight.

Thankfully, I have recently discovered a passion for something, something that fuels my fire. Writing. I feel strong and at ease when I'm writing. The sense of accomplishment I feel either when completing a written piece or receiving praise on something I have written is indescribable. Writing is my sole creative outlet and opens the doors of honesty in a way that even years of talk therapy never could.

Writing is my aspiration. I want to spend the rest of my life writing with a purpose. I have dreams of writing online columns, reaching thousands of people with my words and my thoughts. I dream of being paid to do the thing that makes me happy, the thing that lifts the heavy weight from my chest.

So I've got ideas, but how do I make them happen? First, I have decided that my state of stunted adulthood is hindering my ability to grow into the future self I desire to be. It is because of this that I will not be returning to school in Fall 2011. I want the opportunity to work and write as an adult, to hold a steady job, to have adult responsibilities. I feel that living as an adult, rather than being perpetually 20 years old, will better assist me in achieving my goals. I also need to commit to taking the time to write every day. Even if the only writing I do is in a personal journal, it is an important habit that I need to develop. Finally, I need to put myself out there. I plan to do this by maintaining a steady posting habit here, submitting pieces to other sites, not being afraid to contact other bloggers, and finally, scraping together the cash to attend the BlogHer 2011 conference in San Diego this August.

Realizing what I want in life is freeing, but I cannot forget how important is going to be to follow through on these plans and to never doubt myself. Being bold and fearless in the early weeks of 2010 allowed me to gain confidence in my abilities as a performer and public speaker by putting myself out there. I'm going to use that same brazen attitude in 2011 to prove myself as a writer, a blogger, and an amazing adult woman.

4 comments:

  1. Congrats! You are a lovely writer, and I am so happy to see you are "taking the reins in your life" to reference my latest post--Lesson 1 of blogging: self promotion ;)--let's go to Blogher together this year! Let me know when you wanna talk getting tickets. <3 <3 <3

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  2. good luck! though i'm of the mindset that you don't need brick and mortar education necessarily to go for your dreams. i'd love to be a writer and realize that i am through my blog :)

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  3. From one writerdame to another: Knock 'em dead in 2011. Keep writing!

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  4. Thank you so much for the words of support and encouragement!

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