This post first appeared on my former blog Nov. 15, 2010.
“If you build it, he will come.”
Remember those words? That haunting whispered voice carried through the windswept corn in Field of Dreams.
I was working on my second master’s degree when I saw the film. And afterward, I announced I wasn’t returning to school for the next semester.
This may not seem earth-shattering to you, but I’m the sensible sort of person who always does what she’s supposed to do. I was enrolled in a 3-year program, so the expectation was that I’d finish it out.
But I didn’t. Field of Dreams showed me that you could attempt something absolutely insane and it might just all work out for the best.
And a second master’s degree in theater and education was not my dream. Sadly, I wasn’t sure what my dream was at that point. But I knew I wanted the freedom to chase it, and a load of student loans for a degree I didn’t need wasn’t going to be an asset in that search.
It took nearly ten more years for me to admit that the dream was to write. Write plays. Write stories. Write novels.
But I still remember how I cried and cried after seeing that movie. No, not at the end of the movie, and not even about the movie. But about me and what the movie had shown me about myself. That I was in danger of surrendering my dreams. Worse, that I was in danger of not remembering to dream.
I have a bulletin board with bits of wisdom. Okay, they’re mostly taken from ads from travel magazines. (Seriously, get a copy of Conde Nast Traveler and read just the ads if you want to feel more positive about life!) But one shows high rise office buildings climbing into the clouds. It says simply, “When did you stop looking up?”
That’s what Field of Dreams reminded me, and I’ve tried my best never to forget it.
Is there a story out there that inspired you to change your life?