In this busy world, we are so time-obsessed. We climb onto the treadmill of life. We schedule events and goals. We are always waiting for something. We are waiting for the mail to arrive. We are waiting for the bus. Waiting for our dinner. Waiting for our friends, clients or colleagues to arrive (and they are never on time!). We are waiting for that school bell to ring. We are waiting for the right moment to begin – standing on the precipice of our grand life adventure not wanting to muck it up.
As adolescents, many of us daydream of how our lives will pan out. We want to be married and own a home by the age of twenty-seven. We want our first child by the time we are thirty. We desire a mortgage-free status by the time we are fifty. Often these goals are not derived from our passion or desire. They are societal-driven measures of our success in life. And when we do not meet these timeframes, there is something wrong with us.
The Fantasy of Being A Successful Writer
I have always been a daydreamer. Before Peacock Dreaming: The Wisdom Of Flowers was published, I imagined the book being an amazing success and my writing career sky-rocketing. The dream of being a successful writer was so close I could reach out and touch it. My whole being vibrated with excitement and anticipation. It was very real to me. This was my calling. The more this energy took hold, the more inspiration I received, and the more creativity I experienced. The Universal Law of Attraction was certainly out there working in my favour. I invested in the services of a publicist for a short period of time to figure out how to get out there. I received book review opportunities from lucrative media outlets and invited to write for a couple of publications. Other opportunities then also manifested out of those events, convinced the books would fly from the distributors.
Outside my fantasy land, reality was very different. It was harder than expected to get the books into bookstores. I road-tripped across Australia with the aim of getting the books into stores there. To my horror I encountered a continuing pattern of the stores I had found on Google had gone out of business in the months and weeks preceding my trip. Times had been changing within the publishing industry, and my daydreams had only reflected what I had seen in the movies. I felt cheated and despondent. I had invested so much time and money to achieve this dream. Failure was not an option I could stomach.
Why is it that we become so adamant that things are not happening? We become so despondent as if we are falling over a cliff. We cling to the edge, trying to claw our way back to the surface. We fear that we will plummet to our death.
You Are A Successful Writer If You Elicit emotional responses
The turning point for me occurred on my arrival back to New Zealand. I received an email informing me that Peacock Dreaming: The Wisdom Of Flowers had won an award – a B.R.A.G. medallion. In the busyness of my business I had forgotten I had been brave enough to submit the book to the Book Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G.) for consideration and scrutiny. They had distributed copies of my book to their readers to critique on technique, content and appearance. They really liked my work. The feedback was constructive and complementary. The tiger was back in my tank. I was back standing on that precipice again.
My perception as to how to proceed forward though had changed. I recognised I needed to set down the baggage of my own idealistic perception as to how this writing thing was going to pan out. I needed to keep putting my words out there without expectation – and I needed to just observe and feel before making the next step forward.
My Turning Point
This whole experience taught me valuable lessons that are continuously reinforced as I persist with nurturing my fledgling writing career:
- Sometimes we need to sit in situations a little longer than we want to (even though they may feel uncomfortable). There are valuable learnings that come of this that open our eyes to amazing new opportunities that we had not previously conceived with our blinkered perspective.
- We are not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’. As is the case with the rest of life, there are those people who resonate strongly with us. There are those people who just don’t get us. And it is all okay. As you hone your work and become more comfortable in your own skin and style, you will become surrounded by your own tribe.
- I have realised that if my words touches the heart of just one person, then my work has accomplished what I had set out to achieve. I am successful. And I have to tell you, I am so humbled. I sit at my computer and tear up in torrents when I read emails and messages from people inspired by something I have written as it has reached them at just the right time. This is the confirmation I need to know I am on the right path.
- I have learnt that my magic happens when I am completely in the moment and just being. When I give in to those feelings of desperation and I don’t take the time to feel into decisions, I run the risk of taking impulsive actions which will either result in a heaviness or a nothingness. Don’t get me wrong, you still need to plant the seeds in order to harvest the fruit. But you need patience too. With patience and nurturance, the growth comes with ease rather than by brute force.
So, what creation within your own life do you need patience with? What magic borne out of joy and passion can you create with ease? Let me know in the comments below.
Anne McCormack is a New Zealand-based Photographer, Spiritual Healing Facilitator and author of Lovitude: Trying To Calm The Monkey Mind and the award winning book, Peacock Dreaming: The Wisdom Of Flowers (recently awarded the B.R.A.G.Medallion).
Peacock Dreaming: The Wisdom Flowers is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and selected bookstores.
Lovitude: Trying To Calm The Monkey Mind is available from Anne at www.thepeacockdreamingblog.com.
Feature image courtesy of JESHOOTScom via Pixabay.
