What Would You Do If You Had No Fear?
I was admonished, many times,
in parent-teacher conferences for looking out the window in class. My teacher
was frustrated that I aced the tests, since it appeared that I wasn’t paying any
attention. Somehow, though, the information got through. I dreamed of other
worlds in high school because reality felt so uncomfortable (we’re talking in
the late 60s and early 70s). But I did absorb what my teacher said—and spent
hours, days, and weeks obsessing about it—while I looked out the window. From
the frightening possibility of nuclear war to the antics on Leave it to Beaver, the elegant prose of
William Shakespeare to the shock of 2001:
A Space Odyssey, it was all food for dreaming.
I faced my fears of the real
world and became a performer on stage. See a pattern of escape here? I threw
myself into the drama club and auditioned for every musical and dramatic stage
work. I lusted to become a voice and music major in college, immersing myself
in opera, Jazz, Blues, and ancient music. Getting lost in the world of a
character helped me to get over my fears and learn to be a team player in the
band.
After five years of hard
work, studying what I loved, I proudly accepted my college degree in Music. Mission
accomplished—NOT! I quickly realized I couldn’t make a decent
living in the real music world. All those years; all that work. But it wasn’t
in vain. I dove into the business of making music and live theater, working my
way up to be an executive in the Broadway entertainment industry. It was
rewarding and hard – really hard. It
only took twenty years to become an overnight sensation.
I’m fifty-four, and I still
look out the window. But now, I know more about what I see.
That’s why I became a writer.
I left my corporate life behind, because it was time to do something with all
that time I had logged looking out that darned window. My magical world of high
school came back to me in updated Hi-Def vision and combined with my years of
hard work. It fueled a whole new career. And when I want to read a book that
takes me into another world, I pluck my own from my nightstand. Another mission
accomplished. YEAH!
The characters in my books ask
themselves that very question. Of course, I give them some pretty cool magic
and immortal help to nudge them toward the answer. For them, the path to
happiness is marked by helping other people and catching “bad guys” with the
FBI. That’s how they create a legacy for themselves.
Writing is hard—I won’t lie—and it’s not without risk. My characters take big risks, too, but know they
can’t cheat life . . . or death. Cheating has ramifications.
If you needed surgery, do you
want your life to be in the hands of a doctor who’s cheated their way through
medical school? If you’re sued, do you want a lawyer who doesn’t really
understand the law to represent you? If you opened a restaurant, would you want
your customers to skip out on the bill after you’ve created a wonderful meal?
Trust is powerful. Trust is
everything. And trust in yourself is tantamount to being a success in whatever
you decide to do.
So, what’s going to be your legacy?
How do you want the world to remember you?
I’m just askin’ . . .
Courtney Pierce is a fiction
writer and lives in Milwaukie, Oregon with her husband of thirty-four years and
bossy cat. As a former marketing executive in the Broadway entertainment
industry, she studied what moved audiences as fantastic stories unfolded on the
live stage. Her first book, Stitches,
is part of a trilogy series that follows the magical journey of an older couple
who discover a magical piece of fabric at an estate sale. It holds the key to
immortality. And what they do with it will change the course of their lives.
The second book in the series, Brushes,
brings together the power of art and financial fraud with a magical painting. Brushes will be released in September,
2013.
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