via – Pensieve of CynChanI love dreaming. Dreams are vivid, fantastical, and can certainly be exhilarating. They play with your feelings, and bring you into highs and lows and then you wake up and forget them. Ahhh, well, I’m not talking about that kind of dream. I’m talking about YOUR (and my) dream, where you do what you love and what you love, loves you back. You’re an artist, a writer, a speaker, a tv screen, a…whatever it is, and you make a living doing just that. Wow, doesn’t it feel good?
I recently heard a story about a man who gave up everything to follow a dream. And in that time he toiled and worked and sweated to reach, said dream. And it was not overnight, nor was it overyear, but it took parsecs before he finally reached that dream of being an integral part of the geek industry. You know who you are, it’s just too bad you’re not reading my blog. I hear it from people all over the place, from celebrities to pseudo-celebrities. They often have the same mantra, “follow your dream”. But why do so many dreams fall flat? Why do people give up so easily? Why do so few people reach their goal? No really…why?
The whole point of me doing this blog (yeah, yeah, I really don’t DO this blog very often) and my podcast, and my other projects, is to try to tap into my dream. Alas, my dream is ever changing, but it revolves around this………..! I hope you just pictured me sweeping my arms out towards my blog and podcasts and such. And when you do these endeavors, you find yourself commiserating with people of like mind. Okay, it took me three years to finally mingle with other podcasters, but what do you want? It’s better late than never. And I’ve found so much inspiration from the people that I’m now associating with and learning about. They are so good at what they do. These people are smart, eloquent, and have something brilliant to contribute to the world. These are the men and women following their dreams. And I think they all know something, the rest of us don’t know.
Hard work is hard, and I don’t think a lot of people realize this. Maybe it’s not that obvious, but I believe, (because I’m included in this), that we don’t realize how much of our lives we have to dedicate if we really want to pursue our dreams. Of course, everyone has a different goal in mind, so your difficulty may very. I hate to say this, but if your dream is to be an awesome Starbucks barista, then more power to you. I’d have to say that’s easier than becoming a podcast or blog or Youtube sensation, or better yet, be even recognized in this highly competitive market of online entertainment! Unless you do porn, well, okay…maybe porn isn’t easy, but I bet it’s a lot of fun to do!!! Despite that, you need to keep grinding and keep pounding the grindstone, and boy…am I making this sound painful. But that’s the amazing part…it actually isn’t!!!!!
The best part of doing something you love, is that you freaking love the molasses, out of it. I look at my podcasts and when I actually write in this blog, and I nod in pride, because I had way too much fun doing them. I’ll admit, I’d like this to be more than just a hobby, but I’m happy with the success it’s had and can probably see myself doing this for the rest of my life. But in order to really be in the big leagues, it takes more than just doing. There’s a dash of luck, and a hint of miracle to sometimes rise to “stardom”, or even, just be renowned in your field. Some people make a living doing the things we do for fun. It’s probably because the right people found it, the right people loved it, and the right people found something worthwhile in what you do, and therefore, shouted out to everyone who would listen. So, if you think that your dream is rough, or your passion is hard, don’t give up on it, because….you LOVE it. Also, I’m pretty sure it hasn’t given up on you.
The weird thing is, I do understand how people give up on something that they’re so passionate about. Not everyone can be the best at everything. Look at the American Idol people, singing away like they know what they’re doing. In the beginning though, you hear just HORRIBLE singers belt out notes and they are absolutely dreadful. I think it all goes back to that whole, no one is a loser, everyone is a winner BS. But that’s a whole other rant, that I’m just don’t have time to get into. Should they give up on their dreams? Okay…yeah, maybe they should, but that doesn’t mean their other passions aren’t worth pursuing.
I used to love to act. I was in Drama in high school, and I acted my butt off. So much so that I ended up kissing a girl on the chin a few times in this weird scene where I think she was my wife one second, my maid the next…anyway. I stopped when I thought I wasn’t good enough. Now the weird thing is, people who didn’t have to be nice to me, told me I did well. I was approached, unsolicited, by people who commented on how much they liked my performances. Now, I’m not saying I’m a Tom Hanks or a Kevin Spacey, but I could have made a good extra. But I didn’t even try to go further, when I think I could have at least made a decent table or lamp. I kid, but really, who knows what I could have done? I may have actually done the voice acting I’ve been pressured to do for so many years. But it’s scary to follow something so unsure, and I get it. Now that I’m a little older, and a little wiser, I hope not to be afraid of that next opportunity and just go for it.
It pains me to see people stop something that they are so fervent about. And it’s understandable to want to see it turn into something that makes you money and maybe even some fame. But I hope that people just do it because it makes them happy, and brings them joy. Life sucks enough as it is, to give up on a something you’re so fond of…is sad. Maybe it just happens to geeks, but I’ve known people who have been asked to give up their “other love”, because their significant other asks them to. Now, why would someone you love, ask you to give up something you love? I don’t understand that. I was always under the impression that those people are supposed to lift you up, bring you inspiration, and support you. And hopefully you do that with them in return. That last sentence looks weird to me…
Okay, I should stop before I turn this into a novel. I was just thinking about this as I was writing my script, and sometimes when I’m doing my podcast, and every once in awhile…when I’m writing in my blog. So until inspiration strikes me once more, I hope everyone is doing something they love with someone they love on a sofa they hate. I have no idea what that means, but in the end, I’ve always touted that passion rules reason, but maybe both can live hand in hand.
