Stay True To You

Do you remember the days as a teenager when you struggled to figure out just who you were going to be when you grew up?  For years I thought I was going to be a veternarian or have a horse ranch where I could commune with nature and live among the animals. 

But staying true to my internal compass was hard at times.  Here I was trying to please others...to be what others wanted me to be...to act in a manner which did not remain true to the person I was inside and in the end I paid a heavy cost.  I lost a piece of myself and spent more years than I'd like to admit in search of myself.

But I'm happy to report this past year and a half has been a wonderful journey of self discovery.  A time of putting the pieces of my life back together and reconnecting with my true compass.  It wasn't easy.  I  had to become stronger than I ever thought possible and take a long, hard look not only at the values I hold dear, but also the connections and relationships of  those closest to me.

Would you like you if YOU met you?  Did you become the person who stayed true to yourself?  I thought about this last night when a friend and I were discussing the possibility of my entering the upcoming Highlights contest for fiction.  We talked about where we both felt our careers as writers of children's books should go and for both of us the magazine route isn't in our future.  I'm not saying there is anything wrong with pursuing publication in magazines, but for me, its just not staying true to my own visions.

There will be many avenues to tempt new writers...self publishing, print on demand, traditional publishing houses, online ezines, magazines...the list is almost endless and we can get caught up in the sole pursuit of becoming a published author while forgetting to remain true to our integrity as a writer.

For myself, my inner compass is in the permanent upward position and I will follow wherever it may lead...