Courtney’s Notebook: 2012: The Year of the Dream Follower

I’m not really big on New Year’s resolutions. There isn’t one thing that I want to change about my life…there are many things. If I added up everything that I should do differently as an adult person—like opening my mail right away instead of letting it sit on my coffee table for a month or shredding my credit card receipts immediately instead of stuffing them in a bag that is hidden in the back of my closet because I keep forgetting to buy a shredder—I would undoubtedly drive myself into an anxiety induced coma.

So no. I don’t typically make resolutions.

But this year is different. While I don’t see myself falling in love with going to the dry cleaners any time soon, I do resolve, in 2012, to believe intensely in the power of dream following.

Now, this may not come across as particularly Earth shattering at first read. But think about it—what if we all truly believed in the power of following our dreams. Not just in dreaming, although I believe in that too, but in putting our passions—our callings—at the top of our priority list. What if we decided right here and now that we are worth pursuing?

In 2011, that’s what I decided. I let it be known publicly by starting the blog Write For The Cause. You see, there are two things that I believe: 1) I was born to write and 2) a society where equality and justice are lived experiences, and not just aspirational goals, is possible. These two beliefs converge at Write For The Cause—my attempt to advance justice, equality and social change by telling the story of the people who are working to make such ideals reality.

True, this was not the year that I discovered my two beliefs. But, 2011 did prove transformational because I finally went public.

I made business cards.

Courtney McSwain: Blogger.

It sounds silly, but that declaration signifies an important breakthrough and shift from dreamer to dream follower. Of course a business card does not a success make. But for a writer, putting things in print is no light task, and naming oneself is an essential demonstration of belief.

By now you might be wondering why I started this note by discussing resolutions for 2012 if it seems I’ve already achieved the belief milestone. I think resolutions should be about continuing the progress that we’ve already made. A new year is the opportunity to identify what you’ve done right, intensify it, bring it to scale and figure out where you can repeat that success in other areas. For example, once I’ve gotten the writing thing down, I can apply those same dream following skills toward putting my fitness DVDs to use as something other than bookends.

The point is this: I have been me my whole life. But it wasn’t until this year that I declared I was worth pursuing.

And this is just a note to say that you have been you your whole life. You know what you are good at, and you know the things that bring you joy. Why not use 2012 to intensify those things, bring them to scale and figure out how you can put that joy to use for society?

I wanted to share this with you in hopes that it will inspire you, because you have inspired me. Every new follower Write For The Cause receives on Twitter, every blog comment and Facebook “Like” energizes me and reminds me that I am not the only person who believes in this vision. YOU are an important part of Write For The Cause, and I am grateful for your presence.

I also hope you will come aboard the dream follower train. I promise to be a fun traveling companion.

~CM

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Tagged: New Years Resolutions, Writers, Writing

Posted in: Just a Note