Runnin' Down a Dream

There's a story about a young man who, after listening to Elvis, was blown away and could do nothing but beg his father for a guitar. 

The same young man did nothing but eat, drink and sleep music and by the time he was a teenager he had talked several people and friends into joining a band. 

This isn't an uncommon tale. We've heard it from the greats so many times; people who were inspired by the Beatles or Elvis (almost always either or both of these entities). We've also occasionally heard about how these local 50s and 60s bands turned into something more, turned into small phenomenons, which moved into larger phenomenons and these bands started to become famous. 

What separates this story from the others, and what stands out to me as being unique among all the greats is the lead singer of this particular band. 

With no doubt to the observing eye, this singer had no fear to cajole and to ask that he keep his band members from going to college or even going to war. It was Vietnam, but that wasn't going to stop his band, his players, their music or their journey. 

That's what I find so intriguing about the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers story. He didn't see any other option in his life other than to pursue music. 

As I feel a residual of fear every day (a fear of no new story ideas to pitch, a fear that no matter how much I try, I will never get to the level I'd like to be at) I sit and think about Petty. And then I think about my own journey. 

While I am SO thankful for the opportunities I've had and am SO thankful to have a good job, I feel in my bones that I am a writer and that I will be and am meant to be a top level reporter. Few things give me the fire in my belly and the satisfaction in my soul, than writing. And I believe that this, in turn, makes me a writer. For this and so many other reasons. 

Rejection is hard, and something that parents and teachers and mentors don't prepare you for when you enter the real world. It is a lesson and an experience that is hard earned and to a certain extent, rejection never loses its affect of slapping you in the face. 

But I will not let that defeat me. The fear can live there at the fringes of my mind and my heart. It can be the nervous jangle that winds its way through my life, but I refuse to give up. I will act like Mr. Petty and his band members, and keep my eye to the road, my eye to the prize and see that there is no other option but to achieve everything I dream.