Through the eyes of a 21 year old

William Shakespeare and I share the same birthday and for good reasons that fact popped into my head yesterday morning after waking up to several birthday wishes from my family and friends.

I felt so special yesterday with all the warm messages from everyone so thank you all for making my day memorable. Thank you to my brother Chris for posting a photo of me when I was an eager 21 year old who still saw the world through rose coloured glasses. For reminding me that even at 49 I am not only entitled to still view the world through rose coloured glasses but I can also live my life that way as well.

Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers of our time. There is no coincidence that he and I share the same birthday. It’s a reminder to me of the talent I possess and how I cannot just let it slip sway. I have to continue to explore it. Live it. Breathe it because it is huge part of who I am. Having the same birthday as this great writer is symbolic of what still lies untapped inside of me.

He just went for it and wrote and put himself out there. Exposed himself to the world. Exorcised his innermost desires. And I am slowly but surely doing the same. I will one day be known the same as he was for writing from my soul. For stirring souls. For writing my truth such that it resonates with those who are seeking their truths as well.

Then as a reminder again of my strength as a writer a colleague walked into my office and said he had just seen the insurance book I had written some 8 years ago and was impressed by it. A gift again for my birthday to let me know I am a writer. And I can’t abandon that fact either.

Another sign came to me last night when I was out to dinner with my family. At the end of the meal we all opened our fortune cookies and my message was to live my dreams. I take that to mean that I have to continue to write and one day I can make my birth mate, William Shakespeare proud to have shared the same birth date.

Just like that 21 year old girl whose face was blasted across my Facebook page by my brother with the bright wide eyes who was ready to conquer the world. So am I as a 49 year old woman. Who has lived longer than when that picture was taken. Who still has so much to live for. Write for. Strive for. And to be because I am a writer. A mother. A wife. And a woman living her story. Writing her story. Recording her story and breathing through it every single day.

Thank you to my brother for letting me see that girl again - on the cusp of becoming a woman some 28 years ago. Looking into her eyes. Inspiring me to keep going for it. Innocent but eager. I have her image burned into the back of my mind now. Willing me to make the promises I made many years before come true. And to quote my birth mate, "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt".