When I'm down...

When I'm down, when my writing sounds dull, when my features look bland, when my life struggles with the path I walk so irresponsibly, I read this:

She's turning her life into something sacred:
Each breath - a new birth;
Each moment - a new chance.
She bows her head,
gathers her dreams
from a pure deep stream
and stretches her arms towards the sky.

It is here where she must begin to tell her story.

(http://www.live-inspired.com/)

And I do. I begin another story. Sometimes my own, sometimes someone else's but always a loved one. I received an amazing letter from a fellow writer today - a woman with numerous bestselling books, often envied and considered having it all. She dreams just as much as I do and we met online through my ramblings about France and my future existence there. She was staying awake in the nights picturing the same vineyards I did dream of. And today she wrote to me:

"A person must be happy in every area of their life. It is not impossible, nor is it questionable. Who says you can't have everything? I want it. Do you? Then it is as true as anything else. The most difficult part is not to define your wishes but to define yourself as deserving them granted. I dare you - are you worth your goals achieved and dreams fulfilled? Are you afraid to challenge fate and pull her skirts if she is too slow or distracted? I dare you to climb the highest peak you have imagined this year and meet me here next spring. Let's see what you can do in one year."

I've been reading it again and again. Truly, who says "everything" is an impossible wish? Not me... But I admit I am not as brave as she is or as hopeful. My faith is often shaken to the point of destruction. This is the difference between those, like her, who raise again and again, and finally achieve triumph and those, like me, who start many things and dream many dreams but rely on the Wheel of Fortune to take them where they want to be. A bit sad. Even more pathetic. I love her words though. They make me believe.