For the next ten days, my ‘normal’ (ain’t that funny? Me? Normal?) blog is being suspended. But I am NOT going anywhere. In fact, I am going to let you deeper inside the warped mind of the REAL Tara Neale than ever before…as you travel with me through an annual ritual…my GOAL setting.
I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions…no one ever keeps them. But I do believe in goals…and especially in dreams. In making the life you want to live. Day by day and moment by moment.
But in order to do that…you need to know how you are, what is important to you and what the fuck you actually want out of life. That may seem obvious. But for most of us, from the moment we were born, we have been programmed like a computer, trained like a damned dog, to do what other people want…our parents, our teachers, our bosses…society.
Sometimes just learning to dream again can be a REAL challenge…
So today’s exercise is to imagine…you won the lottery, the millionaire/billionaire uncle you never knew died, you wrote that next 50 Shades of… Whatever. Now… you can do anything (legal and moral, folks), you can be anything (even prima ballerina/rock star/athelete), you can go/live anywhere…
What does that REALly look like for you?
Congrats, Tara! You did it…after years of hard work, you are an ‘instant’ success. Your latest book made the USA Today and NYT best sellers’ list. You have magazines and TV shows wanting to interview you. Now what?!?
It changes nothing about who you are…your core values remain the same. Family and friends still come first. So making sure that the people you love are secure in that comes first, last and always. And their anonymity is protected…if JK can then that should be a cinch for you.
But this does mean that all those big plans for that eco-village, hippy commune of yours can progress a bit more quickly than before…but with the same values of course…integrity to people, process and Pacha Mama (Mother Earth). (Hopefully, you have already located and purchased the land…living simply there in that RV you bought to travel America.)
Of course, it also means relying upon your tribe for most of that as you make those rounds of interviews…selectively. You are as REAL with them as you have always been with your readers, your friends…and most importantly yourself.
And you don’t let the shit get to you. You are not a Diva, but neither do those ‘bad’ reviews phase you. You are after all a ‘prophet.’ People either love or hate you…and you know exactly where you stand with the only ones that truly matter.
What does change is your platform…you can ‘preach’ your message of being REAL and ACCEPTing one another…and of life sucks, love is the only thing that makes it worth living and GREAT sex is the best way to show them love. You use that expanded reach to promote the message and not yourself.
Oh, and you are travelling more…seeing things you always dreamt of. You are in a position to make a REAL difference too. Giving of your money and more importantly your celebrity to raise awareness of those REAL life things that you always write about. You keep those issues as the focus.
Then you escape back to the refuge and fortress of your tribe…those who truly love, accept and support you…to heal and recharge. Until you have to do it all again.
It might have taken you a lifetime…but you have arrived.
Now…I want to hear YOURS! I know that not everyone is REALly crazy enough to put their shit out there like I have…and even mine is censored a tiny bit to protect those closest to me. So if you are not comfortable sharing your dreams here or on Facebook in a comment…please email it to me at taraneale@virginmedia.com.
Write this up…print it out…and hold on to it…we have just begun to DREAM…
Tara Cox - Literary Erotica 
Love this! Thanks for the prompt.
You are welcome…hope you will join me for the rest of the series.