I want to be an Artist (or, Meet the Publishers, Part 1.3)

This was what the Meet The Publishers programme blurb said:

Don’t miss this chance to attend this half-day local publishing forum where local publishers, editors, writers, bloggers and even a librarian share how they followed their dreams and transformed their ideas into reality.

Preetam and I had a good laugh after reading it -- about the "followed our dreams and transformed our ideas into reality" part. "What dreams did we have? What writing careers?", we joked. We were just there to do a "Self-publishing using Online tools" segment.

Or were we?

"Preetam, what dreams do we have for your writing and blogging?", I asked. He couldn't quite answer. Neither could I, for that matter.

Then I asked why he blogged, especially about his travels and the books. Finally he said he was thinking about writing a book about this travels and he one use of his blog was to organise his thoughts. I questioned my motivation for writing and all the right-brained stuff. In that instant, I concluded it was simply: Because I can; it feels good to say, "I did this".

It wasn't that silly or implausible after all -- the "living our dreams" part.

Perhaps I, too, have fallen into the trap of thinking that "living one's dream" means making it big. Mention "authors" and "being published" and we think about the big names and bestsellers (I'm no exception). We think of million dollar advances, book-signings, media interviews, movie deals, hords of adoring fans.

It's OK to dream big. We should dream big. But maybe -- just maybe -- we sometimes allow "a dream" to get in the way of simply doing because we find it enjoyable.

Minutes before the session, we inserted some extra slides that mentioned how technology was allowing us to live our dreams, or at least try. I mentioned this post from MyRightBrain:
I want to be an Artist. That’s what I replied without hesitation when, in primary school, a teacher asked my class, “What’s your ambition in life?” ... [Read More]


I meant what I said in telling the audience I'm living my dream through these new media technologies. I'm glad I remembered what I so innocently uttered to my teacher so many years ago.

Truely, I can be an Artist. I might not be very good but it doesn't matter. I enjoy what I can create within the limits of my talents. I am fulfilling my dream.


Tag: random musings