|
September 2007
Reaching For The Stars
By: Laura Bradford
Creative Writer
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a writer. News, features, business stories, press releases, slogans, short stories, novels—it didn’t matter. I just wanted to write.
It was my "star in the sky." The dream I wanted to accomplish more than anything. In fact, it was so powerful that I set my sights on it when I was just ten years old, and I’ve never looked back.
Do I have any regrets about the dream I chose?
Not a single one. In fact, I’d choose it all over again.
Has it all come true?
A lot of it has. But there’s still a lot I want to accomplish...
I want to harness my creative energy and funnel it into a marketing campaign that is truly unforgettable. I want to hit the New York Times Bestseller List one day for my fiction. And I’d like to inspire children to pursue their dreams.
But those things are just the tips of my star. I don’t need them to make my star shine.
Reaching for them makes it shine. Each accomplishment just brings the extra little twinkle.
Looking around New Town these days, I see lots of stars shining—people who have dreams and are giving it their all.
The most obvious would be Greg Whittaker. He had a dream for the kind of neighborhood he wanted to build. The kind of place he wanted to raise his family. The kind of yesteryear lifestyle he wanted to share with a whole new generation.
And he’s accomplished that dream in so many ways...his "star" burning brightly enough that it’s now lighting the way for the dreams of others.
Like Brian Garber of Ruskin O’Brien’s.
Brian had toyed with the idea of opening his own pub for six years. But, with a busy job and a demanding travel schedule, the idea never quite materialized. That all changed when he moved into New Town eighteen months ago. Suddenly his idea seemed not only doable, but pretty close to perfect for this kind of community where people want to hang out and socialize with each other.
New Town enabled Brian’s star to come within reaching distance…he reached out with both hands and grabbed hold.
The owners of Bonnidell’s ice-cream have always wanted to own their own business. After visiting New Town and getting a feel for the community, they decided an ice-cream stand would be the perfect fit for them.
Yet even as they’re reaching for their shining star, they’re looking towards ways they can make it twinkle regardless of the temperatures outside. That’s right—when ice-cream fades to the back of our minds in the winter months, they’ll be serving up hot cocoa and assorted winter treats as the New Town ice-skating rink (another dream of Greg’s) springs to life.
I think about those dreams now when I stroll through New Town and notice new "coming soon" signs in shop windows. Because, if you think about it, the vast majority of these new ventures are someone’s dream—a bright shiny star they’ve chosen to reach out and grab.
Now just imagine what all those shining stars can do when they’re twinkling in the same sky...
|