Why Wait?

I have loved words for as long as I can remember. In high school I wrote poems and songs. Nothing anyone was ever going to publish, but it didn't matter. It was mine.

In my mid-twenties I found my way back to writing. It was only journaling, poems, and songs... again, nothing anyone was going to publish. But it filled something in me that nothing else quite could.

Then life happened. Kids, work, a husband, a home. The writing quietly slipped away, the way things do when everything else needs your attention first.

But the idea never left.

For over ten years I carried a picture book around in my head. My friends knew about it. My family knew about it. And whenever anyone asked, I had the same answer ready: "I'm going to write it when I retire."

It sounded reasonable. Responsible, even. Someday I would have the time, the space, the permission to finally sit down and do it.

Then one day a friend looked at me and said, "WHY WAIT?"

Just like that. Two words.

I thought about it. Really thought about it. And I realized they were absolutely right. There would never be a perfect time. Retirement wasn't a finish line where creativity would suddenly bloom. The only thing standing between me and that story was me.

So I started writing (in my mid-50's).

And I haven't been able to stop.

If you have a dream sitting quietly in the back of your mind a story, an idea, something you've been saving for someday... I want you to hear what my friend said to me.

Why wait?