I got to do something really cool yesterday. I got to sit down with a friend and see the kids’ chapter book she’s spent the last year putting together. Then I got to help her brainstorm ways to get that book published.
It’s like being part of someone’s childbirth. It’s messy and complicated and there are all kinds of emotions in the room – like when I told her a few things that she might want to fine-tune (or when the doctor tells you to push harder but you’ve already blown a blood vessel in your eye) – but at the end of the day, you were the one invited into the room. It’s a blessing.
I don’t know jack about publishing the type of book she’s trying to publish. It’s got color and illustrations and is going to get to kids in a way I have never been able to reach them.
When she called, I could have said, “Gosh, I don’t really know anything about that.”
I’m glad I said instead, “Sure! I’d love to see what you’re working on.”
I knew at the very least, I’d be able to be her cheerleader.
You can be someone’s cheerleader. If that someone is four and wants you to watch them go down the slide for the thousandth time. If that someone is fourteen and wants you to listen to the song they are perfecting on the drums. If that someone is forty and wants to share an idea for a new business they’ve been pondering.
None of us can push the Done button and make all their dreams come true. But we can all provide the hope that keeps others dreaming.
Maybe it’ll even inspire some new dreams of our own.