Life changing Moments

Ever had one of these moments? I have. Many times, actually. It’s usually after I’ve had a massive shake-up in my life or experienced something pretty powerful.

I’ve had really scary ones and really joyful ones.

One of my biggest life-changing moments was the day I visited Hollywood. I know, not the most beautiful place on earth. But as I was wandering around, doing all the normal tourist things, I looked up from the pavement where I’d been trying to fit my palms into Judy Garland’s impressions, and I just felt so wonderful.

Mann’s Chinese theatre and the Kodak theatre were right in front of me. The Hollywood sign I would glimpse a moment later. For a small-town girl with dreams of being a big-shot screenwriter, it was the re-awakening of my muse.

So, I went home and wrote a script, sold it and became hugely successful. Right?

Umm… sadly, no. This is yet another example of having a dream and then letting life get in the way.

I got back to Australia, brimming with confidence and stories. I told everyone who would listen my plan: to finish a screenplay, get back to Hollywood, sell it, maybe even direct it, and live happily ever after in the Californian Hills – just not in the part that burns down every summer

A couple of weeks passed. I still had my massive notebook from my trip, the jumbo ones you buy from borders that weighed about five kilos and contained the pieces that would become my script. I started work on transferring it to my computer. I worked on it every day, then a few times a week. Then once a week, then once a month.

Life just got in the way.

I had racked up a massive credit card bill while I was away (6K, more than I’d spent in my lifetime), and owed thousands more to friends and family who were generous enough to lend me cash before, during and after my travels. I got a casual job and slowly started paying off my debts, then went back to university for a little while. Then I did the biggest time-sucking thing I’ve ever done and bought a house with my boyfriend Jed. That meant I had to work full-time to be able to help pay the mortgage. At the time all I saw was the chance for freedom – from parents and renting. I didn’t think about what else it might cost me…

I don’t think it hit me until about six months in – this is it. Without massive action, this is all life’s ever going to be. Get up, work, get home, eat, zone-out in front of the tv, collapse into bed, and repeat. Occasionally (never often enough) clean the house. Try to have a life on a budget. Try to pretend that everything is just great.

Or do something different!

I tend to over-analyse things sometimes. I don’t know if I was trying to take the “safe” route by buying a house instead of working my arse off on my screenplay and then flying to Hollywood to pitch it. For sure, the thought of standing up in front of producers and executives terrifies me. But, as I realised in another classic “life changing moment”, the idea of NOT doing it terrifies me even more.

I made a big, important decision: this is not all my life is going to be.

Now I’m trying to put that into practice. My boyfriend is so unbelievably supportive, he’s agreed to take a job flying to the mines every week so I can work part-time and make my writing dream possible. It’s an awesome feeling knowing that with a little creative thinking and some planning, anything is possible….

Tell me, what are your dreams? And what’s getting in the way?

How can you start to be everything you want to be?

Tagged as: dreams, Goals, life design, massive action