Power in the Goal

Two years ago the famous "Before I die…" blackboard popped up in Brooklyn Heights. It's this project that began in New Orleans and spread to construction zones around the world, and I stumbled upon it by chance while on my way to a critique group meeting. On that afternoon, I spent ten, twenty minutes reading the board, watching people write down their life goals, and thinking about what mark I wanted to leave on it myself…

On the sidewalk, there are a few bins of chalk... Everyone is welcome to write out their own life goal.

It was eye-opening for me to meditate on the wishes of those within my community, and an intimate experience to watch someone write down their own dream…

I thought a lot about what I wanted to share, in that moment, in that place. A lot of things were on my mind at the time, like the depth of my spiritual life, and when my husband and I should seriously consider having kids, and the poor health of a close family member. I had an internal battle about what to share on the wall – a serious, big issue, or just a heartfelt wish? But as I was on my way to a writing meeting at the time, something specific was pressing on my heart, something that had been there for as long as I could remember, and so this is what I wrote...

When I think about giving up, I think about this wall of wishes and dreams and hopes, and the shaky pink-chalk scribbled words I left on it that day. I think about all the people who shared their own life dreams. How many times have we all been challenged in our life pursuit, wanting to give up? Meditating on this encourages me to push through the bleak moments of my writing journey, and the feelings of failure, and the insecurities that creep up now and then, threatening to paralyze my creativity.

There's power in a goal – Power in the deep desire, the all-consuming hope, and moments of enlightenment and fatigue. Writing it down in the bustle of Brooklyn, with countless onlookers, and in shared company with other heartfelt dreams helps me to push on towards this goal.