Friday, May 13, 2011

The Beginning: Making Dreams Come Alive

As the oldest sibling, I am not accustom to be confronted by my younger siblings. But, last weekend, that is exactly what occurred.

My brother, JohnMark, is almost 16 years old. He is funny, but also very philosophical. So, when he popped up on facebook chat and said he had a question for me....I honestly thought it would be about something silly (like girls) or something deep (like politics).

Turns out, it was neither. It had to do with me.

He said: "Now that Ben is pursuing his dreams [Ben is in school, but also running his own business], when are you going to start pursuing yours?"
I'll admit. I was very confused by this. "What do you mean?"
"You love to write." He replied. "But you don't do anything with that love."
He paused for a moment before continuing. "Some of my best childhood memories were listening to the stories you use to tell. You've talked about writing them down, and making them into something. But you haven't. And, now Baby A is on the way. More than that, I want my kids to know about Mongo."
I was stunned by his statement.
Mongo is this character I created in which I crafted multiple stories surround the adventures with Mongo and told the stories to my siblings. Always a new story, a new adventure, and unbeknown to me, I was crafting memories that would play vital part of my siblings' lives. Who knew?

I love writing. I really do. It challenges me, it relaxes me, and honestly, I love having an audience to share with too. This is why I love my blog so much. I have so much fun doing something I love. Truly, truly love. Yet, JohnMark sparked an old flame in my writing soul. He reminded me of my dreams, my fears, my hopes. More than that, he made me realize what an opportunity I have to craft my passion into art to be enjoyed by others.

With that in mind, I plan to do something I've never had the courage to do: put Mongo on paper. Recount the stories, and begin to pursue this dream.

6 comments:

  1. Love this! Enjoy your pursuit! I am certain it will be a great success!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you will be a great writer. If you ever need Lanette to help you with pictures, she can draw anything.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember the first time you called to convince me to come to TFC I shared that I have a passion for children and you told me how you want to write children's books or.. open an orphanage. Go get it girl!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVE this! As a woman who was inspired to go after my own dreams (going back to school to get my bachelor's degree and beyond) while pregnant, I suggest that you start working on it now. If you are anything like me, when you get to the last trimester, you will experience memory problems (the pregnancy memory loss is not a myth) and the first year you will be lucky to function at all. If you can establish the good habit of writing regularly now, you'll have more of a chance of doing it after Baby A makes his or her debut. I'm so proud of you for deciding to do this and I absolutely love reading your blog. Every time a new post pops up, I read it right away.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh I can't wait to read about them! Sybil would be so proud!!!!!!! Go, Bethany <3!

    ReplyDelete

I (heart) comments! Thank you for making my day!