passion

“We’re Dreamers ‘Til The End”

/ Anne Dennish / Leave a comment

“A dreamer is a realist with faith.”

Faith in their dreams and faith in themselves.

I was in Virginia a few weeks ago to celebrate my nephew, Gavin’s, high school graduation. It was the first time in years that so much of our family was under the same roof for the night and we all had a good time.

I was in Virginia a few weeks ago to celebrate my nephew, Gavin’s, high school graduation and I got to spend some time alone with him. We had a conversation I’ll remember forever: he shared his “dreams” with me. 

Yes, we spoke of college and his football career, but most of the conversation was about his dreams. 

And he said he must get that “dreamer” thing from me.

And I couldn’t have been more proud.

Gavin told me that he wants to make a difference in the world, even if it’s making a difference to just one person. He told me that he’s not looking to be famous, but if he is he wants to be famous for helping people and changing someone’s life for the better. He told me his “dreams” of a better world and I understood exactly what he was talking about because I dream of the same. Gavin and I aren’t just waiting for our dreams to come true, we’re doing what it takes to turn our dreams into a reality.

I received a “thank you” card from Gavin and this proud auntie shed a tear at the last line of the card: “We’re dreamers together ‘til the end!”

And we will always will be.

I believe in the “dreamers” because I’ve been one for as long as I can remember. When I was much younger I  remember being told that it was okay to have dreams as long as I understood that they were just dreams, not reality. I used to believe that a dreamer was just a person who went through life with their head in the clouds, but that’s not true.

We dreamers have our feet planted firmly on the ground, yet we have enough faith in ourselves to believe that we can turn our dreams into reality; we have an intense passion for our dreams; and we believe in our dreams and in ourselves.

I believe in my nephew, Gavin, I believe in me, and I believe in all of you.

Thank you, Gavin, for letting your aunt know that she made a difference in your life.

After all, that’s what us “dreamers” are all about…

And it’s a good thing.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

gavin dreamer

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“And So It Begins…”

/ Anne Dennish / Leave a comment
dreams
Today is the first day of another dream coming true: it’s the first day of writing my next book! And I can’t wait to get started and spend my days writing and editing until that very last page is written…it’s a process I absolutely love and one I’ve waited too long to get back into.
 
I spent the weekend organizing hundreds of index cards with notes on them about stories to be written, went through a few notebooks of thoughts written randomly throughout the pages, and cleared my space to focus on my writing. I could have started writing over the weekend but I wanted to wait until I had everything in place…and it’s in place now.
 
Writing is like breathing to me; it’s something I have to be doing or else I feel lost.
 
Writing is my passion and brings me so much joy; a day without writing feels a bit sad to me.
 
And writing is my life purpose, or should I say, “what” I write is my life purpose.
 
So here I go, my friends, onto the next adventure, the next book, the next chapter in my life, the next dream I want to become a reality.
 
Ready, set, go!
 
And so it begins…
 
And it’s a good thing! 
 
Wishing you love and light,
 
~Anne Dennish~
 

“Feel, Deal and Heal”

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I’ve gone through my share of, what most may say, are traumatic experiences: divorce, cancer, and abuse, to name a few. When I share these experiences publicly many people ask me how I’m still standing, how in the world did I become so positive after so many negative things happened to me.

My answer is always the same: Because I chose to get through and I’m standing even stronger.

And how is that possible?

Because I knew I had to feel all the emotions that came with those “traumas” and deal with them; and that’s how I was able to heal.

No one wants to feel hurt, sadness or brokenness, yet we all do at some point in our life. Many people block those emotions; they tuck them away and believe that they moved on from them. I can tell you that they didn’t. Ignoring what you have to face is lying to yourself and eventually all those emotions you didn’t deal with will catch up with you at some point in your life. They always do.

And when they do catch up with you those around you pay the price for it as well.

Don’t you want to feel happy? Don’t you want to find joy in your life? Don’t you want to let go of an experience that caused you pain?

Sure you do…we all do.

So do it. Take a long look in the mirror at yourself and let your truth come through. Take that experience and all the pain that came with it and deal with it. Feel the pain, the heartache and let the healing waters of your tears flow to release it all. Then forgive the experience so you no longer hold onto it and then forgive yourself for allowing it to hold you back from the happiness you want and deserve.

You can run from those traumatic experiences but trust me, you can’t hide from them until you deal with them.

Feel, deal and heal, my friends.

It’s a good thing.

Wishing you love and light,
~Anne Dennish~

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“You’re More Than You Believe You Are”

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You go through life as a wife, a mother, a husband, lover, and the title of the career you have, yet sometimes we forget who we are. I’m not one to “label” myself or anyone else, but the truth of the matter is: we are who we are.

And we shouldn’t limit ourselves to being just one thing; we should embrace all that we are.

And we are so much more than we believe we are.

And a few days ago I was reminded of the person I love to be: a writer.

Life can get busy and as you know, I’ve spent much of the last month on vacation, on location, and spending time with my kids. I’ve done some writing but not as much as I would have liked.

I’m still in the throws of cleaning my flooded basement and getting some rest from endless weeks of traveling. Laundry is getting behind the eight ball and dishes are piling in the sink. The refrigerator needs to be refilled and doctors appointments need to made.

And then something important happened…

I had a lunch meeting with a client I’m ghostwriting for.

And I was reminded of something I love to be: a writer.

And it was an incredible feeling.

I felt reborn and back on track. I felt energized and ready to create and write.

Throughout our meeting of note taking, working, talking, and organizing, he said one thing to me that made all the difference in the world: “I leave this all up to you, after all, you’re the writer.”

Really? I am? I know I’m a mom, a significant other, a friend, daughter and sister, but a writer?

Well, sir, yes I am!

It’s not that I forget that I’m a writer but I forget how it FEELS to be a writer and that feeling is one of passion. I forgot how the passion feels, how incredible it feels, and how awesome it is to be doing what I love to do every single day of my life: WRITE!

I was exhausted after all the traveling and cleaning in the last few weeks, but today I felt rejuvenated. All that tired energy left my body and I felt as though a very high energy replaced it…and I’m so grateful that it did.

Sometimes we all need a reminder of that feeling of doing what we’re passionate about.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that we’re so much more than we believe we are.

I’m grateful for that meeting.

I’m grateful to be able to write every day.

And I’m grateful to remember what it feels like to be a WRITER!

Take a moment today to remember all that you are…because you are so much more than you believe you are!

It’s a good thing.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

much more

Photo courtesy of Rob Contreras

 

“The Life Of A Writer”

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life of a writer

I love being a writer. It’s crazy, it’s enlightening, it’s therapeutic; it’s living a life on fire with a passion for words; a passion for observing the world; a passion for love, life, and the people in it. It’s waking up at 3 in the morning  and coming to life with a story in your head; it’s nights of waking up during a good nights sleep with the next chapter; it’s constant thinking, wondering and figuring it all out.

It’s a 24 hour a day job, 7 days a week; the only days off are the one’s in which you don’t write, but you’re writing in your head even when you’re not writing on the computer or paper.

It’s finding a story in every conversation you have; in every person you talk to during the course of a day; and in every social event you attend.

It’s endless notebooks and journals of notes, of titles, of thoughts, of words.

It’s always “remembering something so you never forget.”

It’s always analyzing a situation to figure out the lesson or the message.

It’s always wondering “why” and “how” and “what if?”

It’s always wondering about your past that led you to your present that will take you into your future.

It’s always wondering what your dreams meant and why certain thoughts enter your mind at the oddest of moments and hours of the day.

And it’s always wondering about the title of the next story, the next book, the next blog, the next post…and so on.

It’s a mind that never turns off, slows down, takes a break, or stops thinking.

It’s a mind that’s forever listening, forever wondering, forever seeing the endless possibilities in every minute of every day, in every person you speak to, of every experience, of every lesson, of everything…everything!

It’s listening to different genres of music that pertain to your different moods; sad music for pity party days, upbeat music for when you’re feeling great!

It’s feeling all the emotions that life hands you and loving each and every one of them. You love the sad, the joy, the happy, the heartache because a writer knows that every emotion is a gift, and each gift becomes the words to a beautiful story or poem or lyric.

Writers flourish under pressure and under pain…our best writing comes from the deepest of pain. We hold onto it until we turn it into something beautiful; it’s at that moment that we can finally let it go.

It’s feeling the pain in the world and turning it into a beautiful words of hope, faith and encouragement.

It’s feeling the joy in the world and turning it into a motivational story of endless possibilities.

Writer’s feel it all; we accept it all; and we love it all because no matter the emotion, negative or positive, sad or happy, we’re able to embrace it, live it, feel it, learn from it and write about it.

And then we move on…

But not a moment before…

There are those in my life that tell me I hold onto things too long, to just “let it go,” but as a writer, I can’t. It’s not in my nature nor is it in my soul. It’s not how I’m wired or how I was born. It’s nothing I can change and I wouldn’t want to try. It’s who I am…body and soul, mind and heart.

Feeling pain is something I’ve grown accustomed to. Life happens and even pain and heartache happens to a writer. How else could we write what we do? Pleasure is born out of pain; happiness is born out of heartache; joy is born out of sorrow. So why would we not feel these emotions? It’s our feelings that give us focus, give us answers and clarity, and most importantly, it’s our feelings that give us the “words!”

Writer’s are built on words.

We are great communicators.

We are intuitive…and insightful…and pay way more attention to detail than the average person. We listen, we hear, we process, and we write.

We live everyday to its’ fullest, whether we’re sad or happy, whether you believe it or not. We don’t see feeling heartache or pain as a waste of time; and we don’t see joy and happiness as time better served. We see it all as life…our life…your life…and we value all of it as precious time.

For me, “when my heart speaks I listen, and then I write.”

And that’s the truth.

My stories begin in my heart and soul; they are cultivated through my tears and heartache; they are polished by my joy and happiness; and they are written by the words of my truth.

If the eyes are the window to the soul, my writing is the window into “me.”

If you’re not a writer you’ll never understand, and why would you?

We writer’s are dreamers, and most of the “real” world thinks we’re crazy; obsessed; and a little weird. They think we’re constantly pursuing a dream we’ll never catch yet we believe differently. We believe in our dreams and in ourselves; we are born out of this obsession to achieve the dreams, no matter the cost; and yes, maybe we’re a bit weird because we know that what we dream, what we write and what we feel is reality: it’s the reality of a writer.

I love the life of being a writer; it’s crazy, it’s exhausting, it’s painful, and it’s simply amazing.

I am Anne Dennish…

I’m a writer, a dreamer and a poet…

I’m aware of my surroundings and all the people in it…

I’m a talker and a listener…

I’m your friend, your family and your lover…

I’m your mom and your mentor…

I’m all these things because…

I’m a writer.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

I am a writer!
Anne Dennish- Author
Anne Dennish – Author

Photos by Tim McGeough – EVNFlo Photography

“Knee Deep In Writing”

/ Anne Dennish / Leave a comment

marketing ventures 3

I’ve been knee deep in finishing up my next book, “My Collective Soul, Things I Know Without Knowing Why.” It’s been long days and nights of writing for 14 hours followed by a day of recuperating from it all. It’s been nights of “take out” for dinner and spending time with Rob and the kids during one of my hourly five minute breaks.

And I love every minute of it.

I love the writing for hours and hours, the pushing myself late into the night even though I’m exhausted, and I love the pressure of having a deadline.

I love getting up in the wee hours of the morning, putting on my headset and sitting down at the laptop with my coffee to begin the process all over again.

This kind of exhaustion is exciting because I’m doing what I love and what I know I’m meant to do: write!

I know that life has been a bit different in our house. The normal tasks of laundry and cleaning are on the back burner at the moment; the time of relaxing and watching television with Rob are limited; and my kids have become used to saying good-bye in the morning to me while I’m sitting with my headset on and writing and they’re used to coming home and seeing me the same way.marketing ventuers 4

And they’re all okay with this. They love and support me through this time right now and I hope they know how much that means to me. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without their understanding and support.

I couldn’t do any of this without the support of my closest friends and Rob’s family, who have become my family. They keep me going when I’m exhausted and are there to answer the phone if I need to talk to them. Those phone calls help to get me back in balance and are the encouragement I need at the moment I need it.

The new book is just about ready to go to my publisher, Morissa Schwartz, owner of GenZ Publishing. She believed in me and was willing to take me on as one of her authors, marketing ventures 2and for that I’m grateful.

And in the middle of all this writing are meetings and phone calls from my marketing team, Marketing Ventures. Jill, Jennifer and Lora are amazing and are making dreams come true for me. They’ve gifted me with opportunities I never thought possible and they’re still working at gifting me with more! I’m grateful to them for all their hard work at promoting me. It’s growing into more than a business agreement between us; it’s growing into a friendship. It’s a beautiful thing.

And that’s what my life has been like lately. It’s filled with everything I love, and while mentally exhausted, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

My dreams are coming true day by day and I’m glad that I never gave up on them. There were times things weren’t working the way I wanted, yet I knew everything would work out when it was meant to.

Sometimes our best dreams don’t go the way we want; they turn into “better” dreams that we never could have imagined.

You can’t give up.

You have to remember that “everything happens as it should, when it should, and how it should.”

I’m living proof that it does.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

marketing ventures

Just a “typical” marketing business meeting with Jill and Jennifer!

“On The Outside Looking In”

/ Anne Dennish / 1 Comment

invisible me 3

There are times in my life when I feel like I’m on the outside looking in and I know in my heart that it’s okay to feel that way, because:

“Sometimes you need to step outside of your life in order to see what’s inside of it”.

Do you ever find yourself getting lost in the midst of your day to day routine? Getting lost among your loved ones, finding yourself wondering who you are anymore? Are you a mom, a wife, a “life partner?” And where are “you?” Where did you go?

It’s not a conscious decision to be on the outside. It just happens. One day you wake up and don’t feel like yourself; you feel like you’re “on the outside looking in.” At least for me that’s how it happens. And there’s no time frame for it; you feel that way for as long as it takes to see and learn what you need to, and it could be a day or two, or longer.

Sometimes amidst the routine of loving and caring for my nearest and dearest I suddenly find myself wondering where I went to…where am I in all this. It seems like everything is about everybody else, but not me.

I feel like no one notices me unless they need something, and tempers are shortened when I’m not doing what I should be…for them. I spoiled them by doing it all, and I love doing it all, but I also love being loved and cared for by THEM. I want them to spoil me just a bit, I want them to notice my feelings, I want them to reassure me of their love and commitment to me as much as I do to them. I don’t want to be taken for granted.

Yet on the other hand, I believe that being on the “outside” is most often times the only way we can observe our life; it’s the one way we can be objective by looking in from the outside at each person and each situation; it’s the best way we can see what is or isn’t and learn from it.

It’s the best way to see ourselves objectively.

And that’s when the lessons are learned.

We observe the behavior of others towards us; we see how they’re treating us and how we’re reacting to it. We see what the truth of our relationships are and what they aren’t. We see our strengths and our weaknesses, and we can see whether or not we’re speaking our truth.

Often times we find ourselves on the outside when we’re holding too much inside; we’re not speaking our truth for fear of the outcome. It’s that fear thing holding us back and keeping us on the outside.

I’m looking from the outside at all the excitement everyone around me is having; new adventures, exciting opportunities, and movement, yet I’m not a part of it. I’m here, in a life of laundry and cooking, responsibility and reality.

I’m looking at this girl I once knew who had one adventure after another, more excitement than she knew what to do, and an appetite for life and all it had to offer. Life slowed down on her, and she stepped back and she stepped into solitude; the woman who’s life revolves around every one else’s became invisible to those she loved most.

Yet, it was her fault. She allowed it, she contributed to it, and by not speaking her truth, those around her never knew how she was feeling. She had hoped that they would; but they didn’t. And I guess in the end,  it doesn’t matter, because that’s what being on the outside is about, and she knows that it’s up to her to get back to the inside.

So, here I sit on the outside, observing, making decisions, and making big changes. I want those adventures again; I want to feel the excitement of my passion again; I want to be me again.

And so I will. I believe that everything happens for a reason, even being on the outside, and once I  get back to the inside I feel that my life will be even better than it is now.

Wishing you love and light,

~Anne Dennish~

outside looking in

“The Dreamers”

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I’m a dreamer, and I make no apologies to anyone for being so. It’s the dreamers that make a difference; that take a chance; that believe that no matter what, they tried to catch a dream. A dreamer knows that if the dream doesn’t come to fruition as planned, something better will come along.

Some look down upon dreamers, believing that they have no idea what “reality” is.

“My opinion is that the “realists” are fearful of the “dreamers” simply because we dared to believe that there’s more to life than living in reality, that sometimes our dreams are the very thing we need to live in our reality.”  from “Waking Up”  2016

“A dreamer is a realist with faith.”

“The dreamers are our inspiration; they show us that they were once ordinary people, with lives similar to our own, that became extraordinary by simply taking a leap of faith of themselves and taking a risk. “

~An excerpt from “Waking Up” 2016 by Anne Dennish

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“It’s time to make a difference!”