Dream big 2010 - written by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

I’ve always been a dreamer. When I was a kid, I kind of thought that was a bad thing, you know, like “you’re such a dreamer!” which was another way of saying “you’re crazy.” But to me, dreams are what make life fun. If I’m not working towards a dream, life feels stale. Sometimes it’s a big dream and sometimes it’s a little dream. But I’m always dreaming.

When I was a teen and my boyfriend lived 6,000 miles away and everyone thought I was crazy for thinking it could work, I never gave up. We’ve been married for twenty years now and have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy, just like we dreamed of when we were two teens walking along the beach.

When I first got the news that BREATHING was going to be published, the excitement was almost too much to bear. I was jumping around, screaming, flipping out. My heart felt full to bursting. But after a few days, I started to feel a little down and I had no idea why.

My daughter, who was about eleven at the time, understood, though. “It’s because you don’t have anything to dream for anymore,” she said. “Like when we finally got a dog after I’d wanted one for so many years. I was so excited, but then I felt sort of sad ‘cause I didn’t have a dream anymore.” Wow, pretty profound, no?

We found the perfect solution for both of us – new dreams! That’s what’s so awesome about dreaming – you never run out of stock. There’s always something new to dream about. And the dreaming gets me going, wrapped up in excitement and determination. And that’s where I’m the happiest, when I’m feeling grateful for the dreams that have come true and focused on the ones yet to be realized.

Happy Dreaming!

~*~

Cheryl Renee Herbsman lives in Northern California with her husband and two children. She grew up in North Carolina and often spent summer vacations at the Carolina coast, just like Savannah, the main character in her debut novel, BREATHING. You can visit Cheryl on the web at www.cherylreneeherbsman.com.