It’s my birthday week and I’m contemplative. Having an August birthday comes with the “end of summer” and always feels a little like Lana’s, that “Summertime Sadness.” You know, melancholy with a touch of let’s-live-while-we-can feeling. (Plus it has the line, “You’re the best, baby” which, of course, makes me think Marcus wrote bits of it.)

 

Last year my birthday gift to me was a day cleared for The Innocent Prince, a day of writing in my favorite writing places. I wish I remembered that gift-to-me sooner because I suddenly wished… but no, because I fell down the stairs last week and that means I’m behind. Or rather, injured my behind. And that, somehow, put me more than a week behind on my to-do lists. My birthday gift to me is a shorter version of that; I will be writing after work.

Writing one day a year does not a novel make, however. So there’s much more to be done on that front. Over the last year I lived like, well, like it was my last year.  I also lived like I was making money, which I wasn’t.

(From my 2015 birthday blog:

So, I’m back to work in part to support this “book problem” I have. I say that with love, there are so many, many reasons why I am back in business…But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today.

Today let’s talk about the talents, the ambitions, the dreams we are blessed with and what, for real, what are we supposed to do with all of that? 

Everything Good Starts with A Dream

First off, there is no bigger blessing than a dream.

There is no bigger blessing than a dream Click To Tweet

I am beginning to think that health is 80% luck and about 20% work. The same with opportunity and maybe even love. I mean a dream as in a hope, a vision of the future, a goal maybe.  Cinderella said, “A Dream is a wish your heart makes.” I actually had this song on a mix-tape in high school, I’ve always loved to sing along with this one.

“They can’t order me to stop dreaming!” she says.

Marcus after Showstoppers

Marcus after Showstoppers

 

You may dream of adventure, you may dream of moving, or dream of a vacation. Marcus’ dreams of winning a Tony Award and the esteemed Dr. Dennis McGuire, has suggested that we not squelch our children’s dreams, but instead, let them dream! And I say, Why the hell not?!?

It probably won’t happen alone, however, we all need support. I have talked of this before and will again, but for now I’ll just fill in with Vienna Teng’s advice:

“If you’re alive, give more.”

And Maybe more importantly,

“Yes you are only one. No, it is not enough. But, if you lift your eyes I am your brother…”

Level UP!

 

We all have our own adventure to follow.

 

A few quick months ago, before the Listen to Your Mother show a few of the other writers and I were sitting backstage (which thankfully happened to be a bar) about the pressure of choosing your adventure.

Like there’s only one.

Like we have to find that One Thing, that Big Mission, That ONE PURPOSE…and how that’s BS.

This is the thing I wish I knew before…you know, before. I’ve always been a This. Then This. Person.

I can’t do this Until I’ve DONE this.

And, DONE is a big word that, frankly, I’m not great at. Because I confuse DONE with PERFECT.

Also, I tend to neglected the validity and value of DOING.

My new plan:  

Do.

Work and write.

Learn and teach.

Go out and Come home.

Do.

It.

All.

And guess what, choose your own adventureS.

Dream big about as many things as you want to dream about. That said, I’ve also come to realize a person can’t be all things all the time and choices are important. So follow the dreams, let go of perfection when perfection isn’t the point, and – to my word of the year – choose with a purpose.

When it comes to writing, my time is now significantly more limited for this passion. I have to chose where to spend my creative energy. Sometimes I have a personal assignment, something I feel compelled to say or hope to teach, and sometimes, and this I’ve learned is OK too, sometimes I have to write for me. Because, I am a writer.

My biggest personal blessing at this time is the giant composite of blessings that has lead me to move “up” Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I, like everyone I know, have spent time, years even without the solid base. With this pending birthday I am filled with thankfulness at my blessings, anticipation (with a dose of nervous energy) at my next steps,  and my determination to keep plugging toward…everything.

This last video is just for the feel of it. “There’s a drumming noise inside my head That throws me to the ground I swear that you should hear it It makes such an all mighty sound Louder than sirens Louder than bells Sweeter than heaven And hotter than hell” – Me too, Florence – me too.

This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. The sentence is “When it comes to blessings…” and it’s an extra-special week because we’re linking up with the Blessings Month with Tuesday Ten and #1000Speaks for Compassion. Write about “When it comes to blessings…” or Ten Ways I can bless people… or Ten Ways I am Blessed…

The linkup is available from August 4th to 11th (one week), and you can link up with any of our hosts:
Yvonne and Vidya and and Michelle (the blessings thinker-upper) for #1000Speaks
Rabia and Lisa for their Tuesday Ten
and Finding Ninee,  for Finish the Sentence Friday

choose your own adventureS. and Be Blessed. Click To Tweet