The Real Joy in Achieving a Dream

February is almost over – it’s too SHORT.  My goals were too lofty for this little month. I do hope your checklist looks better than mine. But as I promised myself, I will be blogging twice a month and including guest bloggers once a month into the summer.

Today, I am happy and grateful to introduce a guest blogger, Camille Di Maio, author of her soon to be released novel, THE MEMORY OF US.  Camille lives in San Antonio with her husband and four children. She’s traveled to four continents and most of the US and is always planning her next trip. By day, she is an award-winning real estate agent, and by night, she is an author. She does pretty well with little sleep. She loves belting out Broadway tunes at a moment’s notice, shopping at farmers markets, and she will try anything that doesn’t involve heights or roller skates.

There are things you dream about as a little girl, and you can imagine them happening in vivid detail. Your wedding, for example. Your dress will be tea-length. The bridesmaids will wear lavender and have puffy sleeves. You will honeymoon in Tahiti.

Then you grow up, and reality hits. Everything costs more than you thought. The styles of your childhood have gone out of fashion. It is hard work to put together such an event.

But, it is still beautiful. Even if it looks different than what you imagined.

There are other dreams, such as what you want to be when you grow up. I always wanted to be a writer. I got there, recently, after detours through politics and real estate. But, after six years of hard work (and a shout out from Sir Paul McCartney from the Beatles, but that’s another story), I have signed with a literary agent, who got me a book deal that I’m very excited about. THE MEMORY OF US, a WWII story about a Protestant girl and a Catholic seminarian will be released on May 31.

 Every step has been its own journey. The challenges: fifteen drafts, countless rejections, the effort it cost to make it better and better. The joys: having two agents want it, signing with a publisher, seeing the cover art, seeing my name on the cover art, becoming friends with other writers.

Those last things look exactly as I imagined them as a little girl. I thought long ago that I would be excited when those things happened. That they would be everything I ever wanted.

But, after becoming a mother, after caring for a life outside of your own, you learn one thing. Nothing you do is for yourself anymore. So, as delightful as those benefits are, the real joy in realizing this dream has been what it’s meant for my three daughters and one son. Mom has showed them that achieving their dreams and becoming anything they want to be aren’t just pretty platitudes to put on a motivational poster. They can become a reality with hard work, resilience, perseverance, and a positive attitude. And along the way, other people have told me that my writing journey has inspired them to dig up their old dreams and make them happen, too.

And that, I think is the secret to happiness. Realizing that it’s not about what you’ve received. It’s about what you’ve contributed.

***********
Please follow Camille:
Amazon Author Page – amazon.com/author/camilledimaio
Book Trailer Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhGrvDii0g
Website – https://camilledimaio.com
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CamilleDiMaio
Instagram – https://instagram.com/camilledimaio/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/camilledimaio.author

See you next month,

Jody