Following Your Dreams, Geek or Not

So yesterday I got an email from my writing instructor along with the assignment I sent her. She had some things to say about the plot and my characters, and how I could improve, but she also said that none of it was necessary, because she believed in me and that my book could become a memorable adventure for my readers for years to come.

Intense, right? Having someone believe in you is always the first stop to success. If you don't have that, it's significantly harder to get where you want to go, but it's not impossible. I myself want to be a writer, but I don't want to be rich. I want to live comfortably, and have enough money so that if something comes up, I don't have to worry too much. But I wouldn't know what to do with millions, and that just offers opportunity to screw up in big ways. You just have so much more of the world open to you once you have money, and I'm not sure I want that. My goal is to just live my dream for as long as possible, and retire when I can't write anymore. Writing is my life, and I wouldn't give it up just because another job is higher paying.

Not to say that a high paying job can't be your dream, though! I personally believe that whatever you want to do can be done, whether it'll make you rich or not. If you want to be rich and get there fast by taking a higher paying job, that's fine. Whatever will make you happy in the long run. If you think money will get you there, that's fine.

I think that living your dream, whether it be what you want to do with your life, where you want to live, who you want to spend your life with (admittedly I'm already spending my life with the person I love, even though it's not official), is the fastest track to happiness. If money is part of that, who am I to judge?

What's your dream? Are you living it right now? If not, how do you think you're going to get there? Comments welcome.