Dare To Imagine

In the movie, You've Got Mail, the Meg Ryan character, Kathleen Kelly has just decided to give up her shop and she's talking with Birdie (played by Jean Stapleton) who tells her that she's brave.

"I'm not brave," Kathleen says.

"But you are." Birdie tells her, "You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life."

I've always loved that concept. Maybe because as writers, we live our lives imagining different lives.

Well, on Monday, I found out that I have to begin to imagine a different life for me, because my day job is being phased out of existence. It's kind of a scary proposition.

I can try for a promotion--there will be two in my area--or I can step down to the new lower position with less responsibility and significantly less pay. To put this all in prospective, I took a pay cut about three years ago when the company eliminated 4 hours of OT in my position--that ended up costing me about ten percent of my income.

This new pay cut will equal close to 20 percent. So, in less than four years, I will have been cut about 30% and not because I did anything wrong--simply because the company is trying to fix something that was never broken. You gotta love corporate.

Or I can join the unemployment line.

Or I can finish my book, send it back to interested Agent, and hope for a substantial sale.

Which is what the life I want to dare to imagine. So, instead of finding time to write--I have decided to MAKE time to write. Right now, I am my only road block.

Be brave.
Dare to imagine a new life.
That is my new mantra.