I Have To Tell It….

I can’t believe that it’s finally here. For a few years I have been talking about it, and now it is about to come to pass. My book. I started seriously writing poems my senior year in high school (roughly 8 years ago) and found it to be somewhat of a release for me. I kept writing and writing and before I knew it I had racked up over 300 poems.  A lot were about relationships, but there were also many dealing with anger, forgiveness, spirituality and just whatever came to my mind. My method of writing is fairly simple. I write what I want, when I want to. Usually something hits me and I just feel like I have to write it down right then.

Over time all of this developed into me coming up with the concept for my book, Blurred Vision. The thought behind the book is that we all have points in life where we can’t see clearly. Whether it was my situation, someone I knew, or just a thought that popped in my mind, I wrote it down and talked about it on paper. I was originally very excited about the concept and title of the book.  But somewhere along the way, I lost some of my drive for it. It wasn’t until recently with me getting down to business on really getting my book out that I found out the reason why.

I STOPPED talking and thinking about it.

I got so busy being involved with work, outside activities and balancing my personal life that it eventually just got pushed to the back of my mind. I began to think it wouldn’t happen and didn’t blame anyone else for thinking the same. Earlier this year I began to get revved up about it again. And this time I started mentioning it more to my family, my girlfriend and close friends. One thing I’ve learned is that the things we don’t announce as a top priority, chances are no one else will either. This time around I told myself I would stay focused on completing my book, even if it meant with no support. But I found that the more I told people, the more they would ask me about it and hold me accountable to completing it. I started including people in on the step by step process and it challenged me to keep going further.

So by now you may be saying, “Well I don’t write poetry and I’m not interested in publishing a book.” True, you may not be interested in either of these. But there is something you’re passionate about. Whatever it is, talk about it. When you keep your dreams to yourself, the only thing you’re doing is suffocating them. You owe it to yourself to put it in the atmosphere. Being quiet also gives you a way out to avoid the fear of success. I say the fear of success because in some ways success is much more difficult to maintain than failure. If you fail, you just move on and possibly try again or focus on something else. But when you succeed, you have to put forth a constant effort to keep the momentum going. But why not live up to the responsibility of success for loving what you do? This is not to say that you walk around pestering everybody about your aspirations, but hey if it keeps you motivated then I say go for it.

Oh, by the way, make sure to pick up my book, Blurred Vision, next month!!