dreams {sol 3.31.16}

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For the past month (well, most... or at least half of the past month) I've been writing here on my blog and with a community of writers over at Two Writing Teachers. Some might wonder why - why do I write on my teaching blog about random stuff in my personal life? Well, it's because if I have any hope of teaching writers or coaching teachers of writing, I have to walk the walk, so I write and I share with all of you.

Yesterday, a blogger in the TWT community posted a beautiful post about her dreams. Today, as I was running (half running, half walking) on the lakefront path here in Chicago, I began composing today's post, the last for the Slice of Life Story Challenge for 2016. A post about my dreams. The dreams of a 35 year old woman. The dreams of  Literacy Coach. The dreams of a writer, and a world traveler, a beach relaxer, and a wine drinker. Here goes nothin...

One day, I hope to write alongside teenagers. When I was a classroom teacher, I wasn't a writer. I would bark orders, assign papers, devise rubrics, but I never lived that Writerly Life. I stood in the front of my classroom and told them what to do, without ever doing the work myself. So, one day, I want to sit at the side of teenagers, and show them my writer's notebook, and my writing process, and the pieces of writing that suck (that I published anyways) and the ones I'm most proud of. I want to show them how I revise, and coach them towards the same, taking in all their wisdom, too. I want to write beside kids. It's amazing when they look at you and say, "That lesson (about Author's Craft) was so fun!" What would be even more amazing would be if those kids were my kids.

One day, I hope to coach in a middle school, a middle school where I get to instruct one section of a 7th-8th grade looping English Language Arts (you know, teach them in a little lab of sorts) and then coach the rest of the day. I've been so blessed to have been able to coach at an elementary school, and I really love all the work that I get to do, but my heart continues to be with those awnry teens, and so I know, it's only a matter of time before I reconnect with them again.

One day, I hope to sit on an oceanfront patio, with my laptop or notebook in my lap and coffee at my side, and just write. Listen to the sounds of the sea call to me, and the salt in the air absorb into my skin with the hopes it makes me more creative, more open, more vulnerable with my writing. I hope to sit on oceanfront patios all around the world and write, but for now, I'd like to start in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Jennie, Amanda, Erika - can we do this? Go there and write and walk on the beach and suntan and have great dinners and then write about it all? And drink wine, too?

Speaking of wine, one day, I hope to see Napa and wine country in Italy. It's just been in the past few years that I've really opened up to trying all kinds of wine, and I would love to travel to the best places where it's made. Hey, we can write there, too.

One day, I hope to find an awesome guy, one who is secure enough with himself to be open to an amazing relationship. I've dated the guys who avoid intimacy at all costs, and now that I know how to spot them a little better, pretty sure I won't be going down that road again. But, finding a guy who could trust enough to let his walls come down and be vulnerable, well, that would be awesome. I believe we're meant to go through this journey we call life with someone, and I can't wait for the day when I find a guy who is open to the possibility of a fantastic relationship.

And then, when that's all settled, one day, I want to get married in this amazing church I now call home, Old St. Patrick's, surrounded by my family and most favorite people.

Oh, and one day, I want a Golden Doodle. Dudley I'll call him, and we'll live happily ever after (with my awesome husband, too!)

So there you have it, my dreams. Thank you, Michelle, for inspiring me. Like it always goes with writing, you never have any idea of how far your influence reaches. I'm so thankful I found this amazing writing life!

What are your dreams?