When I decided to participate in Write 31 Days, I didn’t know what I wanted to write about.  If you peruse Write 31 Days, you’ll see that there are many more topics that are more specific and less general than my own.  Nevertheless, I decided to write anyway trusting that some topic or idea would come to me everyday that would hopefully would be somewhat interesting to you as a reader.

Several weeks ago I started listening to Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast with Paulo Coelho called The Alchemy of Pilgrimage.  I knew I wanted to write about it, but I only today finished listening to the podcast. Sometimes I’ll read a book or hear someone talk, and I just want to savor their words and take them in.  Hearing Krista Tippett’s conversation with Paulo Coelho was like that. Over the next few days I’ll share some thoughts about the podcast.  Here’s a quote from Paulo Coelho that inspired me and reminded me of why I started this blog.

“Either you start living the dreams of someone else — meaning your parents, your wife, your husband — or, paying the price of your dream. So, this is the most hard choice that you have in life. At the very beginning of your life, when you are a teenager, you know what you want. Then you forget for a while. It happened to me. And then you have another chance, a second chance. Life is very generous. It always gives you a second chance. And then it’s up to you to take, to grab this opportunity or to forget it forever. I mean, you can’t forget it forever, Krista, because there is always this inner child within yourself saying, “Hey, I’m here. I had the dream to be something else, and now you’re making money, you have a house here, you have a penthouse there, you have whatever. But, you are not doing what you were intended to do. You’re not fulfilling your personal legend.”

It takes tremendous courage sometimes to follow the path where your heart leads instead of the path everyone expects you to take.  One of the many reasons I admire my husband is because he’s followed his dreams even when others have questioned it and looked askance.  I think of this blog as my second chance to follow my dream of writing.  It’s definitely a pilgrimage.  I’m not sure where it’s leading, but I’m trusting the path I’m on.

Today is Day 3 of the Write 31 Days series.  You can find my other posts in the series here.