The other reason I never went professional in terms of Art, is because of the fear of rejection and of not being good enough to make a living. I feel foolish admitting this, but it would be equally foolish to omit it. What have I learned from all this? I have learned that if my children want to pursue a career in the arts, no matter how precarious it may be, to encourage them to give it all they have before trying anything else. Dreams I found must be followed, or something inside us can perish. If your dream fails, then adjust, but never ever stop dreaming.
I admire certain cultural aspects of Aboriginal people, (despite my limited and outsider's point of view) for the links they make across time. 'Dreamtime' being a concept of connectedness and interdependence where all things flow from an original source and all things are the way they are because of their lineage and linkage. This is my gut feeling of what it means for them, having experienced, I am ashamed to say as a tourist, their unimaginable struggle for some kind of reclamation and lost purpose.
Dreams, to extend this discourse somewhat obliquely to my own situation, are the stuff of life and no one should live without a dream. Waiting for the right conditions to happen, may seem time wasted, may appear a passive game of indecision.. If the time never comes, when our dreams, through hard graft, chance, intent or leap of faith become real, is really is not the point.
It is hope that nourishes the spirit. Having said this, try not to wait too long. We all know what that means for each one of us. For me as for the majority of people reading this, the hard part is to define for ourselves what is 'too long' or what the 'right time' maybe.
I hope that when you read this, you will find it in a small way consoling and maybe even useful.