Be Gentle with Your Dreams

I think we drove home from the hospital at about five miles per hour.

We put the car seat down in the living room and tip-toed and whispered.

It wasn’t that we hadn’t handled babies before. I grew up bouncing them and pacifying them and changing their diapers.

But this was different.

This was… our baby.

Dreams are like babies. They need to be treated gingerly in the beginning. They’re tiny, fragile, and easily assaulted.

We want them to thrive and to grow -- and in order to do that, they need to be protected.

After some time (okay lots of time) and some late nights at the computer screen – our dreams – our stories – start to take shape.

Our initial response might be to continue to protect those dreams, but we know… eventually they need to be exposed to daylight.

It’s a difficult step… to let others see our dreams. To take risks and pursue being published. But we want to help those dreams find their way in the world.

We need to start exposure carefully. We need to select people who will be gentle with our newborn ideas. As our writing grows we can expand our circle of sharing.

Newborns are seldom beautiful. Our dreams will sprout acne, irritated skin, and intolerable shrieks of neediness. But they are in the process of growing.

One day we won’t even remember anything except the joy…

So go ahead -- bond with your writing dream. And when it’s time… let her take her first baby step.

Try not to freak out when she falls. Know there are many more baby steps to take place until one day…

Your dreams are strong, healthy, and running so fast you can hardly keep up.

Can we be your small circle today? We'd love to hear about your writing dreams. We promise to be gentle.