I returned home from the Allume conference on Sunday, stuffed full of thoughts. And one thought in particular, which I'll get to in just a minute.
It was quite a weekend for me, getting to meet with publishers to talk about my book, "The Donkey Principles." I met writers and bloggers from all over the country and heard terrific speakers. Wow, it was an amazing experience!
First off, (because I know you want to know!) I thought my publisher meetings went great. The acquisition editors were kind, enthusiastic and very receptive to my incorrigible donkey and this story about how God is so unexpected in His ways. I think Flash charmed them....I mean, really. How could they not be charmed by his silly ol' self?
And I love, love my agent Ruth Samsel. We had coffee on Saturday night and then wandered through the local Anthropologie store and had a ball. I felt very, very blessed. And so lucky to be sitting at a table talking about a book with people who are actually interested in publishing it. How many people would like to be here?
But what I kept thinking all weekend started with this: that we are all on a journey of some sort. We're all following a dream. And maybe that dream is to be a mama and to have babies on your hip, or finish a college degree, or read the Bible all the way through for real this time. Maybe your dream is to hand-make all your Christmas gifts or live off the grid or be an artist or write a book. And this weekend I was with hundreds of women who are listening to their hearts and their soul whispers that propel them toward their dreams. Maybe dreams that they haven't even dared to say out loud. I know because that's me.
And here, finally is my thought:
While we are following our dream, we can't forget to live the dream. That we are living the dream.
Mostly, it doesn't look like a dream. It mostly looks like messy living and dirty dishes and marching little people toward their baths. It looks like day jobs that suck all the living life out of you, and then the carpool and the bills and the dog that sheds all over your black sweater. It looks like nothing amazing or interesting or worthy.
It looks like you're not making one tiny speck of progress toward that thing that you wish for.
And yet.
You are living and loving and breathing. You are preparing. You are growing and working it out. You are listening and observing, and creating a resevoir of experiences which your dream will draw from. Even when it doesn't look like anything is happening.
My thought was, don't give up. No matter where you are in your journey. You've got to just keep on going. Seven years ago when I started to write this blog, I just sat down to write posts that I thought might encourage people. And I wrote day after day because I loved it. I still do.
This weekend, I sat at a table and talked about my book, and I thought how far I have yet to go. I thought about all those ladies in the conference hall, and all of you at home who have so far to go, too, and I wanted to cheer us all on. I wanted to just say, let's keep living. Keep doing. Keep picking up socks.
And let's keep dreaming.
How about you? Are your dreams drowning in laundry? What is God whispering to your heart in the midst of it all?
