Claire Cook

I heard Claire Cook, author of best-selling novel Must Love Dogs (which eventually became a movie), speak this week at Emory University about finding her true calling. Cook was in her forties when she wrote her first novel in her minivan during her child’s swim team practice. Though she’d always wanted to write, she’d long put off her biggest dream, working instead as a teacher. Why is it sometimes so hard to chase our biggest dreams?

Join this chit chat:

>> Click Here to Join the chit chat.

Mark Roddey

11.14.2007 Report

Sacrifice. Giving up some things in order to reach for and grasp the tail of a shooting star.

Amanda Coggin

07.16.2007 Report

You'll never know until you try...I'm watching a dream happen before my eyes and loving every minute of it (so far).

Monique Peterson

07.05.2007 Report

I think the hard part comes with the mentality of waiting until all the right pieces are in place to begin. When a little bit of writing happens every morning and evening--regardless of where you are in life, it doesn't take that long to realize the difference between the idea of writing a book and actually having a completed manuscript. Dreams begin every day--there's no point in waiting.

Kathleen J. King

07.05.2007 Report

I get steeped in handling the details of life and forget the bigger picture sometimes. And technology, though I'm a fan, has made me disconnected in some ways, from nature. Usually there's something that pulls me back. A friend once told me that she tries to experience beauty, in any form, at least once a day, even for five minutes. I think I may try this to reawaken those dreams!

Rebecca Brown

07.03.2007 Report

I'm so tempted to say money but when I really, really think about it, I know that I could figure out how to work while pursuing my dream so that I could keep earning money. So sadly, I think it's probably fear of failing, masked with my ever-popular excuse of "I don't have enough time!" But Claire's story is pretty inspirational. If she can find the time in the back of a minivan, maybe I can too.

Midori Nakamura

07.03.2007 Report

Money. My biggest dreams will never support me, probably because that's not what they're supposed to do. I've certainly pursued many dreams, but they have never provided a steady, sufficient income.

Brie Cadman

07.03.2007 Report

I think the answer is in the question: our biggest dreams often seem too big, too lofty, or too unattainable. Of course, life is supposed to be about the journey and not the destination, so our biggest dream should not be something that invokes the fear of failure, but something we have fun chasing. It's all a matter of getting started!

Kate Carter

07.03.2007 Report

I think we're scared of pursuing our biggest dreams and failing. If we never chase what we really, really want, we never have to concede that it's not possible.
I'm probably guilty of this, but hearing about Claire Cook's story makes me want to buckle down!

Join this chit chat:

>> Click Here to Join the chit chat.

First published July 2007

1 reader liked this story.

bookmarks