Image from OutWrite 2012 in DC, taken by Author Donald Peebles
When everything else falls short, our
dreams are sometimes the only things that can pull us through. When you wake up each morning and go to bed
every night yearning to break out and bring your passions to life, you’re
eventually going to have to make a decision.
Either you’re going to continue living a life unfulfilled or you’re
going to commit yourself to working towards a fulfilled life where you achieve
your dreams. I’m glad that I finally
made the decision on November 27, 2011 to make a serious push towards achieving
one of my lifelong dreams.
On November 27, 2011 I submitted the
initial draft of my manuscript to be self-published through iUniverse. For at least three years, I’d been toying
with the idea of publishing my first volume of poetry. For whatever reason, I was conflicted. I take that back. For several reasons, I was conflicted. I’d given so much of myself away to my job
and school and other entities outside of myself, that there didn’t seem to be
much time or energy left to focus on what truly mattered to me. I doubted my talent and wondered if I really
had what takes to make it. And I got
caught up in others’ and society’s expectations of what I should be doing with
my life. I found myself trying to adhere
to standards and live a life that I didn’t want and that didn’t fit me
personally. I suffered because of it and
had to work to rebuild and get myself back on track.
So in the months leading up to submitting
my manuscript, I eventually said, “Fuck it!”
I was tired of being depressed. I
was tired of doing things I wasn’t passionate about and could really give two
shits and a side of fuck about. I
realized that there was no better time than right now to go after what I
wanted. I couldn’t blame anyone else but
myself if I got to a point in my life where I was completely frustrated,
disappointed, and angry about what I did and did not accomplish. The blame would definitely fall within no
realm but my own if I committed to the quest of living the life dictated by others. So I went to work. I did research on how I should go about
getting my work published, talked with friends and others about their
experiences publishing and what advice they had for me moving forward, and
continued nurturing my craft. And in
roughly six months time, my book Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics was available for public
consumption.
It fills me up with so much pride and
joy seeing my book in print. It’s a
major accomplishment, and I’m glad I finally pursued it. Now that my book is
out, work hasn’t stopped. I’m still
writing, networking, and planning for signings, readings, and other appearances
to promote my work and myself. I’ve also
begun work on my next project (more on that in another post, I promise). The focus for me is becoming a full-time
writer. Outside of my writings about
music, entertainment, pop culture, I’m most interested in writing about the
human condition and the many things that we experience in our day-to-day lives. My writing—be it poetry, song lyrics, short
stories, or prose—can, at times, be raw, confrontational, and
confessional. As people who’ve read my
writing have said, it’s engaging and it’s real.
I’ve long since realized my style is not for everybody. However, if my writing resonates and touches
just a few people, then I’m on the right path.
While writing is one of my passions,
the dreaming doesn’t stop there. I’m in
the process of achieving two other dreams.
The first is finishing my MBA (which will be completed December 2012)
and the second is becoming a voice over actor/artist (which I’m training for as
we speak). And I have others, that, in
time, I will continue to nurture and work to achieve.
It’s great to have dreams. We should all be encouraged to dream. But nothing is sadder than when we don’t go
after or put in the work to make our dreams come to life. It’s critical that we do not let anything or
anyone (and that includes ourselves) stand in the way. And you can’t give up if success doesn’t
happen immediately or happen in the way you think it should. Always be open and flexible to what the universe
may bring you. It may be better than
anything you ever dreamed or anticipated.
Prevail: Poems on Life, Love, and Politics is available at iUniverse, Amazon (Paperback | Hardcover & Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Book-A-Million (Paperback | Hardcover), and other retailers.
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