Writing is my Passion….

I have been so consumed by writing my second book that I have had little time with writing here. I have missed writing on here. My journey started over two years ago and I feel like I have come such a long ways. Have I changed? YES! But you can’t go through a loss and not change. No matter if it is someone you deeply love or someone that you hardly knew. The loss will change you. Yet what I have learned has been amazing. I’ve never been this brave before. I have done amazing things like travel, and write books and now I am working on my first Podcast. I am happy.

It is strange to grow up thinking that I have no voice. My thoughts are not meant for others. Yet I am learning that I do have thoughts and opinions and the things I have gone through have value. The ability to make someone feel like they are not alone is powerful. After my first book was released I did a signing event. Which was crazy in my head because well who would come? I am a new author no one has ever heard of me. Yet people did come. I brought twenty books with me and sold all but two. Now I know what you are thinking that really isn’t very much, but I live in a town of 1000 people and the signing event didn’t even take place in the town I live in! So for me selling that many was just amazing. Yet what happened next was even better. I sold a bunch online and have many that read the book through their Kindle readers. Then an amazing thing happened. I now work in the same town that I held the signing in. One day while working a woman came up to me. She asked if I was “Farney’s girl.” (Farney is my fiancée). I smiled and said yes. This is where I thought she would ask me about how he was doing after his accident. Instead she said “I read your book!” She then suddenly started crying! She explained how her mother had passed and how the book helped her.

That’s it people, that was the whole purpose of writing to make a difference in one person’s life. That is all I wanted. I cannot tell you how I felt. It was amazing. That is why I write. Even if it is only one person, it makes it worth it to me. There have been others who have told me that the book has helped them. Another excited to hear that a second one is coming out this fall.

You know we encourage people to do the things they love, yet we only encourage things that we think people can suddenly be successful at. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, anything a person can make “good money” doing. Those are the things we tend to encourage and support easily. We need to learn how to support all dreams. I learned this from a famous actor surprisingly. It is a good lesson. The arts, acting, writing, film, directing, all are occupations that are hard to become successful at. They are not the instant constant paycheck. But they are the passion of many people. Without them we would have not the beautiful songs that we love, or the movies that keep us on the edge of our seats. All of those things start out with one thing. Writing. I’m not saying that my books are good enough to become a movie. What I am saying is if your child has a passion for writing, let them write.

Just like if your child can sing, let them chase their dream. Why because it doesn’t matter if they never produce a number one hit or tour the big world, they are happy. I know it is hard, it is hard to sit back and watch people chase their dreams and maybe never become the famous have it all kind of person. Yet I bet if you asked them, how life was going, they would say I’m still chasing the dream, and I love it. It takes courage to do that. Admire the courage, and stop judging someone by what they have or don’t have in the bank. It is time to redefine success. It is time to stop asking are you successful, but asking are you happy? Because someone who hasn’t given up and is still chasing the dream. That is successful to me. Why? Because it is too easy to give up lie down and settle for a regular nine to five job and just live like the rest of the world. I would rather be known as someone with courage than someone who is just getting by in life. I want to be known as someone who is happy.

My mother would sometimes tell me “we all can’t be the same thing.” I’m not looking to be the same thing, I am looking to be me. I feel the most like me when I write. Nothing feels better than that. So I may not have millions or even thousands in my bank account, but I have something much more I am happy. I live with joy and nothing is better than that. Chase your dreams, find your joy, and you will have success.

Dee