A Dream Realized

by Cheryl Wright

We are dreamers dreaming dreams. Pursue your dreams passionately and you will eventually achieve them. – Cheryl Wright

As a child I was fascinated with books and their writers. I spent many nights sniffing between the pages of my new school texts. The scent was so intoxicating.  I dreamed of being a writer and envisioned my face on the cover of a novel and my autobiography. I used to get thoroughly excited just thinking about it.

I never shared my dream with my parents. I harbored it secretly in my heart but continued to read and write when I could. My diary and my pen were my best friends. Between us there was no pretence or lies, just the unadulterated thoughts of a child.

In my teens, the dream to was gradually overshadowed by the urgings of my parents to finish school and get a “good job.” For twenty years I lived the life that was expected of me and by the ago of thirty-eight I was married with two children.

Then slowly but surely a strange and insane restlessness began creeping in. In time it invaded every facet of my life, both at home and at work. I found myself yearning for something beyond the everyday routine. Creativity was pulling at my heartstrings. My despondent disposition was unmistakably obvious to everyone around me.

By chance I rediscovered an old interest, interior design. I pursued a course of study and switched careers as soon as I qualified and began to experience an indescribable sense of satisfaction. I had a fulltime job as an interior designer and freelanced as a design consultant.

Three years after I entered that field, I met an advertising sales representative from a local women’s magazine. On a whim, at the spur of the moment, I uttered words that changed my life.

“Do you think your editor would be interested in carrying a monthly column about interior design issues?”

Well, one phone call, one sample article, and one month later, I was looking at my first published work, complete with byline. Because I wanted to build my interior design business, I chose free advertising over payment. That was a wise choice.

Because of that exposure a local newspaper offered me a four-month assignment. That deal brought me checks and clients. I won both ways.

I enrolled for a freelance writing course and even before I was finished and while still writing for the magazine I began submitting articles to online sites.

The Internet allowed me to send and receive emails. From the comfort of the corner office in my bedroom I click and off go e-queries and submissions. I open my Inbox to find newsletters, market listings, and responses from people who read my work. Rejections and acceptances from editors find me easily and quickly. The Internet makes life amazingly convenient.

Interior design issues remain my writing specialty. I am however expanding my horizons to include other topics. Motivation, and self-care especially for women is particularly close to my heart because of my life experiences. Writing about the ups and downs of the writing life is a way of encouraging aspiring writers, just as other writers encouraged me. I am also in the early stages of writing my first book to be entitled Lifestyle Decorating.

So my picture on a book cover may not be far away.