Living a Dream

A couple months ago, I wrote about a bunch of stuff all coming together at once to have a big impact. Today, another one of those weaves just hit me. Right between the eyes. And square in the heart.

Strand One: Inveneo
A couple days ago I wrote about how much I love working at Inveneo. It truly makes me happy. It gives meaning to my life and all the other stuff I've done up to this point. I realized that I wasn't just making a buck, I was positioning myself to do this job the best I can.

Last August, they sent me to Africa -- Uganda and Rwanda, specifically. My job was to shoot video footage and photographs that we could use in marketing and fundraising efforts. And it reminded me of a dream I had back when I was 16, following my first trip to Africa. More than anything, I wanted to be a photojournalist.

I wanted to expand how people saw the world. Help them come out of their comfortable homes and see what else there is to experience and appreciate.

Instead, I came out of college with a degree in mass communications, got married, and began a 25-year career in high-tech marketing.

Strand Two: Dr. Wayne Dyer
Last night, I laid in bed and watched Dr. Wayne Dyer speak about 12 steps to simplifying your life. One of the things he talked about was making himself available for the work he came here to do. In essence, don't die with your music still in you by keeping things from preventing you from doing what you came here to do.

I realized that there were quite a few things I was doing that distracted me. So this morning I came out to my office and removed a couple of the easier and bigger distractions from my life.

But it was when he talked about always finding a way when you really want something that this strand kind of came together. He talked about making time to be available to do what I came here to do. And not making excuses. He talked about how all the people he admires found a way to do what they came here to do.
 
I knew last night that there was something I know I came here to do, and I can guarantee you that it's not surfing the web.

Strand Three: Blood Diamond and Aware Magazine
I passed on seeing it when it first came out. Not sure why. But I watched it this morning, while updating the Inveneo Newsfeed. And end of the movie hit me right in the chest. You know that chakra, the one that swells every now and again and pushes liquid out of your eyes? The reason was Jennifer Connelly's character, Maddy Bowen.

In the movie, she used her words and pictures to create change. She was, yes, a photojournalist. And I remembered how much I wanted to do that at 16, and still wanted to after spending two weeks in Africa last summer.

And here's the weave...
As the movie ended, I looked back to the newsfeed and realized that two of my photographs are being used in an article about Inveneo in the May-June issue of Aware Magazine.

I am a published photographer in a magazine about change. Thirty-two years after I dreamt about it, my dream came true.

And you know what the coolest thing is? This isn't one of those dreams that you achieve and wonder what all the fuss was about. I'm not looking around for a new dream and saying, "Now what?" I'm looking around at all the resources I have at my fingertips and thinking, "What next?"

This morning I realized that I now have that chance to use my words and pictures to create change. I have the ability. That power. And most importantly, I have that responsibility.

Gulp.

And yes, those are the two pictures that appeared in Aware.