How Much Are You Willing To Pay For Your Dreams by April Pohren

Dreams are priceless, however reaching them and making them a reality can be rather costly.  Why, you ask?  Well, when I say costly, I don’t necessarily speak in terms of money, but rather in heart and soul. 

Every single person, in this world, has dreams.  Some may be huge, some may be small.  This varies, mind you, depending on who the person is and where they stand in life.  A person who has known poverty and strife all of their life may dream of the time when they will be able to have 3 meals a day.  Others, who may have never suffered such a thing, may view this as a silly and small dream.  Not so.  All dreams are precious, no matter what they may be.  Other people may dream of making it big in Hollywood or landing a job of a lifetime.  Whatever the dream may be, know that it should never be given up or set aside.

Achieving a dream is not easy, however the satisfaction of knowing that you have tried everything within your power toward that dream, is beyond rewarding.  Grasping the actual success of achieving that dream is like none other. 

Why did I mention that dreams may be costly?  By this, I mean that often times, it takes great courage and emotional strength to reach out and move beyond your comfort zone, to make attempts to turn those dreams into reality.  How simple it is to sit back and think how amazing something could be, how difficult it is to take the steps to make it so.

I have had a deep seeded dream to become a published author since I was a young child.  I remember when I was around 6 years old; I entered a Halloween story to the city newspaper.  It was published and I still have it in my photo album.  That story consisted of one loooong sentence.  I had never been so proud of a sentence in my entire life.  From there, I constantly wrote poems, short stories and any other thing that put words to paper.  I was also an obsessed reader from the day I discovered how to put letters and sounds together to form words. What an amazing and brilliant concept. 

Throughout high school and college I took every writing class that was available, as well as joining writing groups that bonded me with others who shared my love of putting words to paper.   For whatever reason, I was never hesitant about sharing my writing.  I thrived on it.  Keep in mind that I was an incredibly and painfully shy child, so this was a huge leap for me. 

All was well on the writing front until after I graduated college and entered the “real” world.  Out went the time spent to express myself through words and in came the job and responsibilities.  You know how it goes.  I did pen poems now and again – this has always been my way to deal with turbulent emotions.  Other than that, I did continue, internally, with the dream of seeing my name in print.  That dreams sat idle and patiently waiting for me to kick my butt in gear and do something about reaching that dream.

I began my book review blog, Café of Dreams Book Reviews about 4 years ago.  What an exciting and wonderful way to express myself and be creative with words once again!  Baby steps…  Through blogging, I have met some amazingly wonderful people – authors, publishers, reviewers, the list goes on.  By reviewing and interacting with authors, this made my dream of being published seem a tad more within reach.  Someday… 

Fear and uncertainty.  Two words that can butcher the desire to reach dreams to bits.  These are the feelings that I felt when it came to actually sitting down and writing.  What happens if my work is horrible and everyone hates it?  What if I truly stink and that dream is thrust down the toilet.  Having a dream is one thing, believing it can one day be obtained is one thing, going for that dream and having it shot full of holes until it resembles Swiss cheese, something else entirely.  Fear made me stare blankly at the computer screen, thinking that I am better off not knowing.  This, my friends, is what I meant when I said that the cost of reaching a dream can be more costly than the world’s biggest diamond.  The price of reaching out to those dreams may cost self-esteem, stability, every drop of courage within your body and so much more.  Is the cost worth it?  One will never know until they try.  Even if the outcome of that dream may not be what was initially desired, the satisfaction of trying and knowing that you took steps to reach that dream way overpower the idea of sitting back and watching the world go by and all of its possibilities.  Who knows, even if the exact dream that you held dear doesn’t come through, something even better may be obtained.  Something that never would have been, if you had not tried.

Have my dreams come true?  Well, in terms of writing, they are on the right track, thanks to Giovanni Gelati and Trestle Press.  I tell you, this man is the greatest giver of opportunity there is.  My sincere gratitude is forever his.  I have recently had one of my pieces of work, Dream Me to Death published with Trestle Press, thanks to Giovanni.  I have dipped my toe into the sea of dream catching and it is up to me to make the most of it.  Yes, I am incredibly nervous about having my work out there for the public to see (especially since it has been so many years since writing was an everyday activity).  However I am thrilled to have the chance to finally see what I can do.  Those baby steps are becoming toddler steps and will one day be giant leaps.  The more I write, the more I learn.  My dream of seeing my name in print has been reached and now I must work to fulfill that dream even deeper.  I want to move people with my words.  I want to entertain people with my tales.  Will this happen?  We shall see…