As a kid growing up on the Canadian prairies with no cable television and six-foot-high snow drifts surrounding our home in winter, I obsessed over Elton John, the writer of the greatest rock and roll song ever written, Crocodile Rock.
Elton always wore sparkly outfits and his trademark wild sunglasses. He was the man of my dreams, and at eleven-years-old I knew, and I mean KNEW in an absolute and certain way… in my hearts of hearts… in the very depth of my soul… that I would marry Elton John.
I was the future Mrs. Elton John.
You can imagine how devastated I was when he married Renate. When I saw the photo of her sitting on Elton’s lap I wept. I bawled like a baby. He was supposed to be mine.
Turns out, he wasn’t Renate’s either.
Years later, I take solace in the fact that Sir Elton married fellow Canuck David Furnish and I wish them all the happiness in the world. Even if there’s now little chance of my childhood dream coming true. Some sunglasses, once removed, cannot be put back on.
My vision of creating a literary life has been permanently altered, too.
The writer I wanted to be when I began writing is not the writer I am today. I had some success with my Renate (nonfiction), but Renate was not my true love.
Fiction was. Yet the world of million-dollar advances for first novels doesn’t exist anymore. A digital landscape exploding with possibilities took its place.
So what’s a girl to do when her old dreams bite the dust, when she accepts there is no going back to the way things were? I’m taking a lesson from Elton. I’m buying new sunglasses and reinventing myself. I want my new shades to have frames as large as my dreams, and rose-colored lenses to see the wave of digital opportunities in the best light.
And Crocodile Rock is still the best song ever written!
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Maggie Jaimeson - Take a Vacation
Jessa Slade - Get Organized
Paty Jager - Volunteerism
Linda Mercury - Creating a Literary (or Creative) Life
Jenna Bayley-Burke - Eat Healthier
Cassiel Knight - No More Procrastination
Cathryn Cade - Take Time for those OTHER Creative Passions
Su Lute - Reduce Stress: Find and Follow Your Bliss
Jamie Brazil - Shrink My Closet
With writing as with everything in life you have to be flexible. Crocodile Rock is one of the best songs ever! Right up there with Muskrat Love by Captain and Tenille! LOL I listened to both over and over again as a teen.
ReplyDeleteRight on, Paty!
DeleteI missed the Elton John craze but after Lord of the Rings, I wanted to be Mrs. Viggo Mortensen :-)
ReplyDelete*grin* I wanted to be Ms. Most of the Cast after that movie.
DeleteViggo is a marriage-able dude. Sir Elton, not so much.
DeleteI agree Elton John music is amazing. Not sure I think Crocodile Rock is the best ever rock song. I'm more of a Beatles gal. However, I am TOTALLY with you on changing writer dreams. I wasn't in the million dollar advance dreaming stage, but definitely in the half-million. (Why get greedy on the FIRST novel?) My friends who have done well in digital publishing keep telling me to be patient. Ah, that word. It's not four letters, but I'm sure it is an epithet.
ReplyDeleteTo quote The Prisoner of Zenda (a truly great film):
Delete"Patience is a virtue I generally lack."
Never mine wearing many hats; let's wear many sunglasses!
ReplyDeleteOkay, Elton John is way too old for me. Though I do seem to have a thing for falling in love with gay guys. I don't know why. They just "get" me. Viggo Mortensen also too old. Now Orlando Bloom I could definitely see dating. Please tell me he's not gay!!!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are all so funny. Who knew romance writers were fun?