Recently, I was helping my mother sort through her barn for an upcoming yard sale. I found an old book that I used to love reading. As I thumbed through the pages, something fluttered to the dusty floor. It was a bookmark that I had made a long time ago.
When I read what I wrote on the bookmark, my teen self leaped out in front of me, reminding me of what I once wanted:
I Wish
to be a novelist
my books will be made into movies
to marry Tom Cruise
to draw like a real Disney artist
to meet John Jakes
to live in the Caribbean
to own a horse
At the bottom I signed it, topped off with a little Mickey Mouse head, which had been my ‘insignia’.
Some of this is pretty funny. I had never been to the Caribbean before I wrote this, so I don’t know what propelled me to think I’d want to live there. I didn’t know how to ride a horse, but I desperately wanted one to live in our meadow. John Jakes is the author of North & South, and that book urged me to take writing more seriously and fueled my desire to write a historical novel. I remember that all things Disney had been my ‘support system’ whenever I felt crushed by life. I used to copy Disney cartoon images from video tapes and books and posters. I was pretty infatuated with Tom Cruise, which shouldn’t be too surprising. This bookmark was created sometime after his Top Gun fame.
What impresses me is that most of what I wished for when I was a teen is still desirable to me. But now that my interests have developed a bit beyond kissing a fighter pilot (but just a bit), I thought it would be fun to come up with a Writing Wish List, something to motivate me to take that one risk I otherwise might not. To remind me not to lean on the excuse that I don’t know how. To encourage me to fight one extra day for my writing. To be like that teen again, when I thought anything was within my reach.
I wish
to be a novelist
I’d write the one book that scares the hell out of me
to write a screenplay for Disney
to go on a writer’s retreat in the Caribbean
for strength and perseverance and joy
to be a better writer every day
to own a writing studio
to give back what I learn
I have more to add, but this is a pretty good start. What would you put on your Writing Wish List?
Limebird Writers 