The dreams we dream

by Sassy C

A drawn out sigh from the other end of the phone tells me what I?m going to hear even before the words travel across four provinces worth of telephone line; ?You?re living the dream!? my friend berates me as I moan about loneliness and uncertainties.

The comment, delivered by her frequently as she moans about her own unemployment and wonders if she?ll ever make it into the industry, gives me pause and makes me really look at where I find myself today.

Am I living the dream, as she is sure I am? Is this weekly paper with its shared office, cluttered desk and temperamental computer what my dreams are made of? When I?m suffering from the latest bout of homesickness and self-doubt it seems more like a nightmare than a dream. Luckily for me, after almost a year those moments are becoming fewer and fewer.

It?s certainly a far cry from the dreams of my formative years. Of course in retrospect, becoming She-ra Princess of Power might have been a little out of my league as I haven?t really gained much experience in fighting evil forces in the past 24 years.

I guess, like anything else in this world, it all depends on how you look at it. To her, who longs to find her niche in the industry she went to school to learn, my job and the experience it?s giving me does embody the dream. For myself, I think I?ve become to immersed in the everyday routine to recognize this experience as part of the dream. Amidst the hectic schedule of deadlines, interviews and countless new lessons I?m learning each time I walk into the office, I?ve lost sight of just how lucky I am. Of course once I landed the job and settled into the routine of weekly journalism loftier dreams and ambitions came to replace those that were fulfilled when I was offered a place in the newsroom. The Pulitzer Prize is still floating out there waiting for my name to be written on it. But every once in a while it?s nice to have someone help remind me just how far I?ve come and how much I?ve been able to accomplish on my road to eventual success (I hope!!)

The important thing to I?ve learned is that I remember that not all dreams have to be out of reach, some of the most important ones are those we?re reaching every day. And every time I hear that all to familiar sigh on the phone I?m glad I have a friend who can make me put things back in focus so that I know that even though I?ve realized this dream (of actually finding a paper that thinks I?m talented enough to employ) it isn?t the end of it. The lessons I?m learning here will help me on the way to reaching the next level of accomplishment on my way to achieving the ultimate dream of becoming the best journalist I?m able to.

So the next time I hear the telltale sigh on the other end of the line, instead of rolling my eyes and responding with my usual flip response I?m simply going to agree with her and be thankful that unlike so many others who shared the same dreams and ambitions as I did, I?ve actually made some inroads and can place a check mark beside one of the items on my ‘the dreams I can dream’ list.

Sassy C