Last night
you didn’t come as your youthful self,
my fun, faithful friend.
Instead, bald, broad, and bellied you asked,
your hard question against my thigh:
Why not?
Respect, I said,
Squeamish at your leer.
You lowered your voice to that super serious tone
I remember so well.
Really?
So much doubt.
Yes.
Really.
Even in my dreams I’m over this.
ten years ago
dream in pocket
breathless
learning to pitch a book
awed by everyone
talent
knowledge.
Wishing.
Today, I pull a bin
to my own author table.
I am awed at everything.
It’s just ten years.
Same space I pitched!
Now,
ten books to spread
for this event.
My words searching for homes.
A blink of time
those dreams
are truth.
.
.
I just realized that this month is the 10th anniversary of my first writing conference. I bravely registered for one day of the Surrey International Writers’ Conference, took my husband and our exchange student to Vancouver. While they spent a day exploring, I pitched my first book to the publisher who would eventually offer me a contract for it and had my first blue pencil with a professional author (Meg Tilley). Ten years later, I’ve been invited to sell at a Guest Author table, in the very same room I pitched in, and I will have ten books on my table to sell and sign. How astonishing. How quickly a decade passes! How amazing to see what happens when you take the risk!
There are worlds beyond your doors
and opportunities reaching out to you.
“Future” is such a big word,
and so is “college” if no one has been before.
But you have just as much right
to take those chances, as any one else.
Don’t doubt the power of your ability.
If you choose to do it,
are willing to put in the work,
you can do it:
break down stereotypes,
forge new ground,
accomplish something beyond
what judgmental people
think is all you can be.
What’s your dream? Fight for it.
A bank account with room for adventure
parchment with seals
a hand to hold
lips to kiss arms to embrace
Health to walk and talk pain free
Recognition for what’s good
Satisfaction and contentment
Faith in me. Trust around me.
Time for words .
. More time for words.
Time with wordsmiths.
Home with a view to
. tomorrow.
Magic is all in your head, all about two things, imagination and will. You have to focus on your desired outcome and you have to have the will to make it happen.
~Jim Butcher in Dresden Files, Welcome to the Jungle
Sounds like hard work and passion is magic, doesn’t it? Hmm. He might be onto something here.
Shawn L. Bird 