“The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”-John Scully
E.L. Doctorow “thought of himself as a writer a long time before he actually got around to writing anything.”-The Writer’s Almanac In today’s world with Professional Life Coaches increasing in numbers every day, this attitude or thought process is the ideal; to have big dreams and work toward actualizing them. When I was really young, I dreamed of performing on stage…singing…acting and did some of that throughout school, but never pursued it professionally. The classroom became my stage and I instilled that love of the Arts in my students who knew early on that Shakespeare was right that “all the world’s a stage.” Happy Birthday to E.L. Doctorow, born today in 1931 in NYC. When he burst onto the literary scene with “Ragtime,” I gulped that up quickly. I’ve read his other books; some I liked (Book of Daniel) and other’s I didn’t (Homer & Langley.)
“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.”-Kahlil Gibran
Also born today, the Lebanon-born poet, Kahlil Gibran in 1883. When Gibran was 12, he and his mom and siblings settled in Boston. Gibran, too, had dreams…maybe not known to him at the time…maybe not visualized…but this child of extreme poverty and troubled circumstances, learned English quickly in Boston and displayed an artistic talent. Soon his teachers supported that talent and made contacts for the young Gibran which opened his world. After Shakespeare and Lao-Tzo, Gibran is the 3rd best-selling poet in history. When I was a teenager or first-year college student, it was common for people to carry slim editions of Gibran’s “The Prophet” in their back pockets.
We celebrate the birthdays of 2 writers who didn’t know at a young age their exact realm of possibilities As parents, teachers, supporters, we need to nurture our children and all children to dream despite or in spite of obstacles in their lives and to help visualize dreams and paths toward those dreams.
