Concept Statement for Blog Project: WAKING DREAMS

When I decided to start my blog project, WAKING DREAMS, I wasn't sure what would come of it. 
I just knew I wanted to write everyday. So when I moved to Fort Worth, TX in January 2010, 
my blog, WAKING DREAMS came to be. At first I was journeling daily, my first year of my life 
outside of rural Oklahoma. During those early days in the life of WAKING DREAMS, the entries were short, informative, and littered with .jpg images
of the downtown area. 

The honeymoon phase from my sudden love affair with life in a big city wore off before summer 2010 
even started. 
 
Why? 
 
To be ironically honest, I wasn't being 100% honest. Not even 80% honest. Because despite the fact 
I felt happier with my new life in TX I was still confused, still hurt, depressed most of the time... 
ANGRY.

I didn't know what true anger felt like until I realized at the end of spring 2010 that I had the life 
I always wanted, now, in the present... But what about before now??? I didn't wanna talk or dwell on any 
of the past events in my life, most notably, 2009; The final year I spent in Oklahoma. Because when Exodus 
Out of Oklahoma took place,  I made a pact with myself not to acknowledge anything negative that happened before. 
Somehow I convinced myself that as long as I didn't talk about my past, it would cease to have ever existed. 
How do you erase an entire lifetime from your memory? 

The answer is quite simple:
You don't.
 
So WAKING DREAMS became the place where I allowed myself to freely exercise my need to be honest. 
Not just tragically honest, but genuinely and brutally honest... And through  examining publicly,
the rubble of regret, grief and remose I felt, I discovered a multi-dimensional diamond in the rough.
 
Humility. 
Honesty. 
Maturity. 

The mission of WAKING DREAMS was never clearly defined when it began. Two years later and the mission 
is no longer a mission. Because aside from it becoming a wealthy collection of my free thoughts and feelings, 
WAKING DREAMS, showed me the kind of life I've always wanted and the blog helped me grow into the kind of person 
I've always admired.
 
The person I was always meant to be.

 THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA...

Whenever I get an idea for a story or an art project, I force myself to jot it down immediately. After the idea leaves the sanctuary of my mind and comes face-to-face with me in the physical world, it becomes a living thing, taking up space on the planet, just like you and me. And once I give birth to an idea I refuse to abandon it or give up on it. I have to foster it, scold it, guide it, help it find purpose...

Encourage it to be the best idea it can possibly be.