Do you have a Dream? I do. I Dream BIG!

 When I was a little girl, people would ask me what I wanted to become when I was grown up, and I used to say 'a writer'. 

And I took myself very seriously; I wrote my first book when I was 17 and had it accepted when I was 20 and finally published when I was 23 (publishers work in mysterious ways).

I had envisaged that I would be the next Fay Weldon (someone I admired at the time), but instead the book vanished without a trace after the first edition and I was forced to pursue other venues to earn some money.

Photo art by Wibe Koopman

You may have noticed I call myself 'a writer'. Not 'an author'. That's because I view my writing as a creative outlet more than a skill as such. I am a skilled teacher. But writing is a way of life for me. Always has been, always will be. Like singing (although I'm a better writer than a singer). So that little wooden plague on my wall is wrong...it should read 'writing'...etcetera. They didn't have that one though...

So. After years and years and years of pursuing other venues (and not a lot of money) I wrote my second book, found another publisher and...

still have to earn my bread and butter as an English teacher.

Not that I mind, I love teaching English.

But...But sometimes it itches. When people nowadays would ask me what I want to become when I grow up, my answer would be a variation on the original answer. I would like to build a place where people like me, who earn their money contentedly but who yearn for a platform for their creative creations (ugh...sorry) can show their work and do their thing and sell their stuff. I know quite a few youngsters who make or produce wonderful little gems; photographs, movies, write songs, make jewelry, draw. And all this productivity drowns in the massive mire of the Internet, because they don't have the money to pay for a slick website and advertising.

Right. I started by asking you if you dream. I do. I dream BIG. If I ever win the lottery, I'll get myself a building, and I'll start a dreamer's collective, where people like me (and you?) can show their best work. Have a cup of tea. Listen to a song, or a poem. Gosh, it will be wonderful.