Waking life:

I admit that I haven’t been true to myself over the last few years. I’ve been bottling up my dreams of writing poetry, songs and stories and sharing them with others. As a child, I can remember spending hours dreaming and writing without constraint – without the responsibilities and pressures of the real world to drown out my creativity. Now that I’m an adult, I’ve become so focused on working to survive that my personal time has suffered, and I’ve been too exhausted and overwhelmed by life to enjoy it.

A dear friend recently told me that she actually liked one of my dream posts (I was surprised that anyone read it), and she encouraged me to keep writing. This is the same person who, in my dream True Colors, tattooed a mural on my legs. She forced me to recognize what I love to do, and gave me a way to express myself with a permanent display of colors and ideas for everyone to see. The drawings represented a part of me that I could no longer hide and it was an amazing relief to let it show.

Do you have a hidden talent or passion that you’d like to share with others?

Sometimes we just need a bit of encouragement from our respected friends to move forward with our goals. It’s also equally as important to provide emotional support to our friends. In this way, I’d like to extend my own support to you. Please know that you can and you should do what makes you happy as long as it doesn’t include harming or stepping on someone else to get what you want. That’s not what I’m talking about. To put it simply – just be yourself.

As my father once told me, “Never depend on anyone but yourself to make you happy.” You alone know what brings you joy in life and nobody else can figure this out for you. I’ve realized that after years of suppressing my own passion for writing, I was not being true to myself. Now, I am determined to make my dreams a reality and I hope that you can do the same.

Best wishes and sweet dreams!