The Power of a Few Encouraging Words

Have you ever had a dream? I have. When I was a child, I wanted to write children’s novels. But somewhere along the way, I gave up the idea of becoming an author. There was no time for dreams. I had to be sensible and get a regular job with a regular income. That was what was expected.

Then one day, a few years ago, I found myself dreaming again. All it took was a few words written by a friend in a birthday card. She asked me if I’d ever considered writing stories for children. Her words went around and around inside my head. Could I write a children’s story? I decided to have a go.

A few days later, I had composed my first story. I faxed it off to author and friend, Father James Tierney, for his opinion. When he faxed back, I almost didn’t want to read his words. What if Father hadn’t liked it? But I needn’t have worried. These were his words: “Write some more!” (Father Tierney is a very kind and encouraging person.) So I did. A few months later, I’d written my first children’s novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek. Last year, I published that book. And a few days ago, I finished the sequel: The Angels of Gum Tree Road. I dedicated both books to my Goddaughter.

Several days ago, I saw my Goddaughter and gave her a parcel. She tore off the wrappings to reveal a home-bound copy of my new story. “It’s so cool! It’s so cool!” she kept repeating, as she hugged the book to her chest. Oh my! My grin was huge as I witnessed her reaction to my gift.

Charlotte is going to illustrate my new Angels story, and then I’m going to publish it. I hope everyone will like it. But if no one does, it won’t matter at all. My Goddaughter loves it. That’s enough reward for me.

It’s amazing how powerful a few encouraging words can be. They can turn dreams into reality.

My children have their own dreams. They’ve had time to explore their talents, and now they have big ideas about their future. Do you think I should encourage them to look past what’s expected, what’s safe and predictable, and follow these dreams? Or maybe I should take the sensible approach and say, “Be realistic! Do something which will provide you with a safe and steady income.” What do you think?

The other day, Imogen, my 20 year old daughter, and I were talking about her future. Her eyes were alight as she shared her dreams. She wants to continue following her two main passions: writing and music.

“Would you talk about your writing, your music and your dreams with me in a podcast?” I asked.

“Sure!” she replied.

So I’ve been making a few notes about things I could ask Imogen. Yesterday the word ‘unworking’ came to mind as I was thinking about the podcast. This word pops into my head at regular intervals. What does ‘unworking’ mean? I’m not sure. My ideas might be very different to other people’s. But maybe I could explore what this word conjures up for me in the podcast too.

Now that my novel is finished, I’m looking forward to having more time for blogging. Do you remember all those blog post ideas I jotted down a few weeks ago?

I did actually get around to writing the…

… story about the very wild life of unschoolers… (involving)… multiple balls of wool and delicious iced finger buns (the ones covered with sprinkles!)

I wrote that one more than a week ago. It’s called Maybe We Should Have Listened to the Critics.

And now I’ve written….

…the post about encouraging words, and where they can lead.

My upcoming podcast will…

…  explore the idea of unworking.

But what will I do after that? Make another Evernote video? Or write a chore story? Tell you about those potatoes? No, earrings! I must definitely write about the earring disaster. But then again, before I do that, perhaps I should share my tissue story…

So many ideas! And I now have time to explore them. It’s good to be back!

The images were drawn by Charlotte. They are Annie, Celeste and Lizzie Angel.