Field of Dreams
The creation of www.amazingwomenrock.com is a dream come true for me.
In my dream, I see myself as a real-life female version of Ray Kinsella, Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams' character. In the movie, Iowa farmer Ray hears a voice from his cornfield; it says: “If you build it, he will come.”
As it turns out, Ray and I are cut from the same crazy cloth. I believe that if I build a website to inspire women from around the world with stories of other amazing women from around the world, somehow, for some reason, magically, they will come. I feel it in my bones. (Or maybe that’s osteoporosis…)
With the launch of amazingwomenrock.com this month, or next month, or the month after that (the exact date seems to be a moving target…), I’m about to find out if they will or not. I’m excited, and afraid, at the prospect of success, as well as failure. Both are equally daunting.
I’ve already failed once. In this, my second attempt, I’ve gotten a lot further than the first time around. But there still seems to be such a long, long way to go. My resolve is stronger than ever been before. (Good thing, because my intuition tells me I’m going to need it!)
In her inspirational speech to the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on June 5, 2008, J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, spoke on the “the fringe benefits of failure.” Her bottom line? It was failure, and reaching rock bottom, that eventually led to her success.
In Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella mows down part of his cornfield to build a baseball diamond. He loses a big chunk of his only cash crop in the process. He mortgages his farm. The diamond sits empty for close to a year, at the end of which he and his family can barely make ends meet. He will be forced to sell the farm, baseball diamond and all.
In the Hollywood movie, everyone thinks Ray is as nutty as a fruitcake, mad as a hatter, totally looney toons. He’s losing the plot – literally!
In the movie of my life, everyone thinks I’m losing it too.
OK, maybe not EVERYONE. Some people have responded enthusiastically. Others are cautiously optimistic: “Sounds good,” they say. “But how are you going to make money at it? Hmmmm. Good point.
But I have faith. Misguided perhaps, but faith nonetheless. I believe they will come. And the money? Well, somehow it will come too. (If you have any ideas on that, or on anything else about this website, please let me know).
With amazingwomenrock.com so close to being launched, I have a new dream.
I dream that my dream will help others to realise theirs.
