Castles in the Air

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." ~Henry David Thoreau

I have been building castles in the air since I was a little girl. Some of my castles have been typical, I suppose. Wanting to meet Prince Charming. Wanting a fairy tale wedding. Most little girls dream of such things.

There were a couple of castles in the air that had to float away. I wanted to be a famous singer, but I don't have much of a singing voice. I wanted to be a supermodel, but I'm built like Great-Grandmother Smith; she was a short, sturdy woman. I wanted to be a member of Scooby Doo's gang, but hey--I'm not a cartoon!

As I get older, I find that I still build castles in the air. I find, too, that it's the same castles over and over again. The wind will blow one away, so I'll build the next one. When that one drifts off on the lazy haze of a balmy summer evening, I'll put up the next dream. I wouldn't say that I'm fickle, but I do tend to jump from one dream to the other depending on my mood.

I dream of being a writer. I've finished two projects and self-published them. I've made a couple of dollars. Most importantly, with one of them, I impacted a couple of lives and helped some people through some difficult times. I wish I had more time to devote to writing. As it stands, I have a jump drive full of beginnings and ideas. But they're just castles in the air...

I dream of being a photographer. More than just as a hobby. I don't have grand ambitions of making a living by it. It would be nice to make a supplemental income by it. It would be even nicer if that supplemental income supported a full-time income made by writing.

(Insert heavy sigh here.)

Thoreau would shake his fist at me. I have filled the air around me with castles; where I get hung up is on building the foundations. The castles? They're fun to build. They require minimum effort sometimes. After all, it is only necessary to lean back, close my eyes, and imagine.

The foundations? Rolling up my sleeves and getting my hands dirty? That's another story...