Home » Mind & Soul » Care of the Soul » Suite Dreams

Suite Dreams

© Thomas James Martin

Real People Helping Real People
~Assertion of Suite101

As I recall I was searching for some long lost nugget of information on Alta Vista, and surfed to Suite101 to read an article on whatever it was that I was looking for. Afterwards, I clicked a few links and looked around a while, looked over the directory. That was my introduction to the Suite.

Came back soon and saw that the place was actually an Online Publishing Community. Nosed around some more either that day or a few days later and noticed the "Be an Editor" link. Clicked it, and looked around and became a little scared.

You see, writing had been a dream since my teenage years, and I had pursued it as a young man first as an English major at university, then as a newspaper reporter and editor for a few years.

Becoming discouraged too easily and my own introversion hampered my career in journalism. I was a better writer than interviewer/investigator, though I probably could have made it in the profession as a decent feature writer. Unfortunately, I was also rather slow writing up my stories. If you have worked in media before, you know how much this endears you to editors and publishers.

Finally, I gave up and went into other professions, trying on several career hats over the years before resurrecting my writing career as a technical writer after discovering that I had a talent for working with computers and software.

I have heard it said that if you are having trouble finding your career path, look to the concerns of your youth. Take another look at what thrilled you when young. In my case these concerns led me not only to major in English and imbibe literature and philosophy from all over the world, but also to look into psychology and delve deeply into metaphysics and other esoteric subjects.

I had done some writing over the years, writing the occasional poem or essay and publishing a little now and then, but I had stopped really following the dream. In truth, with age and/or spiritual study, one learns that there is more to life than career success and money; the people you love, the richness of one's inner experience, giving back to the community, one's relationship to spirit or God if you will, are became more important to me than literary success.

Still there is that nagging little feeling at the back of your soul that maybe you have not given that dream your best shot, that perhaps you should not have given up so easily. You remember with a shudder these lines from high school English from the Epitaph of George Gray:

The copyright of the article Suite Dreams in Care of the Soul is owned by Thomas James Martin. Permission to republish Suite Dreams in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.