When I made the decision in 2020 to publish the poems I had written when I was young girl and into my teenage years and 20’s, it was a very scary endeavor. I second guessed myself all throughout the process and almost pulled the pin several times. But a little voice in the back of my mind kept telling me to see it through. When I finally held that book in my hand, and saw my young poems in print, it really was a dream come true. That first book, if you are not aware, is “Walk Through a Field of Flowers.”

I didn’t realize at that time that there were more books inside of me waiting to be born. So the fact I recently released my fourth book, “Sow Seeds of Wisdom”, is a greater dream than I could have ever hoped for, and the reason I decided to kick off my blog with this poem called Fruition of a Dream. The reason I decided to use this poem first is because being a published author was always a dream. Now I am a self-published, or independent (indie) author. I was not picked up by one of the big publishing houses, but that’s okay. 

I made the dream happen, and I made it a reality for myself so that I could get my work out into the world. This process has been very rewarding, challenging and scary, but has ultimately lead me to the true belief that this is what I was born to do. This is my contribution to the world no matter where it takes me. And as scary as the process has been, the flip side of my fears, and what keeps me going, is the hope that someday maybe a thought or idea or a line of a poem that I wrote will help someone in some way, and that my work will live on long after I leave this world. That would be the ultimate dream come true.

I have had the title of this poem, Fruition of a Dream, in my head since my first book was in the works, and I contemplated naming my first book by this title. But it’s like when you have a name picked out for a child or a puppy, and then when you look at them you realize that the name doesn’t quite fit their personality. I am glad I had a change of heart and of title because, although I didn’t realize it at the time, my first book was only the fruition of one dream. It was as if something was telling me “Not yet” with the title for that first book. I must have had a gut feeling that more would be coming, and that my first book was not the end of the dream, but the beginning. And that it would not just be one book, but a culmination of all of my other books combined to make up this dream that has now been realized.

Is this fourth book the end of the process? Has my dream fully come into fruition? I am not sure. I don’t have a crystal ball but I sure hope not. I will keep chasing my dream as long as the words keep flowing. I hope that if you have a dream inside of you, that you find the courage, time. money, etc. to put it into motion and see it through to the end. The process is hard and you will have doubts. The fear will win some days. You will want to quit and climb back into your safety zone, or give up, because that is easier. But in the end, when that dream has been realized, it is a feeling like nothing else you could have ever imagined. So I hope you go for it, and I will be cheering you on all the way!

Fruition of a Dream

An author opens up the box
And unpacks her brand-new book.
She’s waited for it for so long;
She just has to take a look.

As she thumbs through the pages
She comes to the realization
That her dedication and hard work
Have led to this creation.

The pride is flowing out of her
As she stares at the front cover.
She holds it and caresses it,
Gently, like a lover.

This book has been her passion.
This book has been her mission.
She can’t believe her lifelong dream
Has come into fruition.

Dreams come in many sizes,
And each one is unique.
Dreams can spur us forward
To reach the goals that we seek.

But dreams do not come easy
And they don’t happen overnight.
Life can interfere
As the dream fades out of sight.

A dream can be daunting
And seem too hard to achieve.
But dreams can give us hope,
And in something to believe.

Dreams can give life purpose
And a reason each day to rise.
Dreams build determination
As we focus on the prize.

Dreams, they can be tricky,
And dreams can disappoint.
Dreams can make us shake our head
And wonder what’s the point?

Dreams don’t always come true
No matter how hard we try.
Sometimes we feel our hearts break
As we kiss that dream goodbye.

But if that dream does come true
And you can feel its worth . . .
When you know this is the reason
You were put upon this earth . . .

When you feel the vision start to grow
And you feel that dream take root . . .
When you can taste the victory
Getting sweeter like a fruit . . .

When you’re bursting on the inside
And your eyes can’t hide the gleam . . .
That is when you celebrate
The fruition of a dream.