Writing and Dreams

A light to guide our path

Dear Gentle Reader,

Am I getting a little too excited for the new season of Bridgerton? To see the romance between Colin and Penelope fully fleshed out? Yes. Yes I am.

I am currently listening to the beautifully simple string quartet renditions of popular songs that Bridgerton so deliciously incorporates into key moments. Locked eyes, first dances, a love that is the bane of existence and the object of all desires coming into being. How powerfully the words of Lady Whistledown draw in her gentle readers in the Ton, and us as the audience. How brilliantly a few choice words strung together uttered by the reluctant lovers can evoke a palpable desire at the opportune moment.

Material Girl - Kris Bowers Cover

Words are powerful. They can be used to bring entire worlds, let alone emotions into being. I use my guilty pleasure, Bridgerton, to make this point. This is a little tongue-in-cheek, but also I think even the simplest stories can evoke powerful emotions that we can resonate with. And just as Bridgerton draws the reader/viewer in with its scandal, romance and sense of fairytale-like story, I have attempted to draw you in, gentle reader. Have I been successful?

Who am I writing for? It is a question I am sure writers have asked themselves since the dawn of… writing?

We must be aware of our audience, and write stories, poems, articles which draw that particular audience in. We can write to the masses. We can attempt to please everyone with our writing. But in actual fact, our intended or subconsciously intended audience look a lot like ourselves. We write from our own experiences, as all the cliché but nonetheless effective writing advice says. We write from within ourselves, so a little bit of ourselves will flow out into the writing. So the audience we are writing for, wanting to reach, is an audience that is much like ourselves.

I say “wanting to reach”, because this is slowly becoming my aim with my writing: to reach a wider audience. But how to do this has escaped me. This is mainly because I don’t exactly know what I’m doing in the field of marketing my writing through social media, or even this platform (substack). I have confidence in my writing, and I have a passion for it that I would ultimately, one day love to turn into a side hustle, if not a career. To publish my own poetry book is the ultimate dream.

I wrote a poem today, published on my poetry Instagram account, which was about taking steps towards the dreams we imagine. The first step to doing this is to realize what your dream is, because as the musical South Pacific puts it: “You’ve got to have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?”

Poem - Imagined Futures (Instagram: @laurajean_poet)

In order to make our dreams a reality, those dreams must be concrete in our minds, somewhat tangible. We must see them in front of us (a vision board if necessary – very fun to make too), and plan out the steps to achieve it. Even if we just think of one step at a time, that is enough, just take steps. Have the goal, the dream in front of you as a guide for your path, for the steps you take forward in your life. As psychology has taught me, we must be clear on our values and goals and attempt to make decisions that align with these. Decisions and steps that align with our dreams. Know what your dream is, that’s the first step, and each step forward will be lit up by that dream.

This piece of writing you are currently reading did not have a structured plan. But I took steps forward, sentences, paragraphs that aligned with where my writing wanted to take me. That is often the best method, or so I have found.

And so it is with dreams. Take steps forward. Despite the fog that seems to distort your path forward and shroud it in darkness, there is always a light in the distance. Your ideas, your imagination, your dreams.

A poem to end with:

Writing

In my mind

I see the words

I hear how they sound

I write and

The poetry flows

From my mind

Onto the paper

Onto the screen

And the ideas resonate with me

I hope they resonate with you

Even a single soul

Out there

As long as they took comfort

Or didn’t feel so alone

In their feelings

I would happily dwell with them there.