The Wish List

Have you ever made a wish list? As a kid, mine included toys. As an adult, it includes a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. :)

How about a wish list of a different sort, the kind that includes goals and dreams? Ever made one of those?

When I worked as a consultant for a New Jersey homeschool network, we had a program that included curriculum counseling for parents/students.

The high school program's customized educational plan included encouraging teens to make up a wish list. We'd ask them a series of questions, including the following:

• Who inspires you? Why?
• What careers interest you?
• What causes are important to you? 
• Where would you like to travel? To live?
• What types of books do you like to read?
• What activities and hobbies do you enjoy?
• What period of history interests you most? Why?
• Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten years?
• If money were no object, what activities or goals would you choose?

We found that wish lists often contained cues or patterns - items or areas that students might pursue via study, hobby, recreation, volunteering, etc. This in turn, could offer clues for careers, goals, and dreams. We encouraged students to add to and reassess their lists throughout their high school years and beyond.

This wish list idea crossed my mind the other day, and I thought about it in relation to writers. What might we learn if we asked ourselves similar questions and made a wish list? Could it help focus a dream? Spur us to reach for a lofty goal? Clear mental clutter and confusion? Light a fire in a discouraged heart?

I wonder if a wish list should be a requirement for writers to help us dream big - to encourage us, reveal strengths, interests, and potential writing opportunities. What do you think?

While working on this post, I found this quote by Les Brown. Thought it rather fitting.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Swinging among the stars doesn't sound too bad, does it?

What could a wish list do for your writing? I encourage you to give it a try. There's nothing to lose but a bit of time, and who knows, you may just find that niche, goal, or dream you've been looking for. You won't know until you try.

Where do your writing dreams take you? What does your wish list include?

Happy writing,

Karen 


Photo credit: Stock Exchange

Content copyright Karen Lange, 2013. No text may be used without prior permission.