Hi you guys!

Well, this week was, as usual, a mish-mash of a week, but something notable DID happen and that is this: my baby took its first steps into the world. That baby’s name is Rêveurs, and it’s a project I’ve been working for about a year now.

It started when I decided near the end of January 2017 to quit fashion and pursue writing for real. That day, I was elated. I strapped myself into this rollercoaster and proudly declared I’m doing it!

…and then the thing got a-moving and I felt my stomach drop as we took a fall.

I freaked out.

Not surprising, after all making the decision to write is the shiny part. The dusty, painful part is everything that comes next. Figuring out where to start.

So I started the only way I knew how from my days at magazines: journalism. I figured I would write about other people going through what I was. AKA, people taking the plunge. I wanted to know, after all, how they combatted everything I was (am) feeling: fear, self-doubt, rushes of excitement, a true worry that I may be bipolar… you know, all that.

And so the first interviews began. I knew this part. I knew you reached out, expressed interest in subjects that made you happy and set off the inner-Curious George. It’s how you write well. You cannot if you’re forcing enthusiasm (eek).

Well, after a while I had ALL these interviews written out. Some into short stories. Some in Q&A format. But then came the part I didn’t know: what on earth to do with it all.

Here’s the truth: if you have no platform, no one cares.

Or, maybe they will give you $2 for your article. MAYBE.

I had no desire to write fiction at this point in time, mind you. It didn’t even cross my mind. (Oh, how much I didn’t know about myself!) So I wasn’t putting together a website or “platform” to sell a book. I’m still not. Rêveurs is something totally separate.

I just wanted to share these stories. And if the gatekeepers didn’t want to read them? Whatever! I’d find my own way. (We all have to find our own way.) I was, and continue to remain, incredibly lucky to have been given time to do this—something that makes me feel super guilty sometimes, really. But I also know I want to do nothing more with my life…so ANYWAY—let’s avoid a tangent.

In a way, you wouldn’t be wrong to say that this site began as me seeking out people who would be my material. Sounds a little…gross. But what happened was something that continues to surprise and thrill me. Maybe even more than the writing. (Quoi?! True.)

Community.

Surprise, surprise, kid, when you reach out to people who inspire you, they make your life better by becoming a part of it—even if only through this thing we call the world wide web. This summer I feel excited beyond belief to be meeting about 5 true friends I’ve never seen in the flesh, but have had hours of conversations with thanks to Rêveurs.

So anyway, maybe I should STOP soon and just say if you have any fears, doubts, anxieties (that’s all sort of the same isn’t?) about your path then I made this site for you. To read about others who are in the thick of it, too. And some who are presently moving past that stage, and willing to share how they did it.

{Oh and I also conducted “interviews” with masters of the past by reading their letters and organizing their words there into fictionalized interviews. Think Tchaikovsky and I sitting down over tea.. yep.}

Okay, I’m going to shut up and just let you get on with your day now.

Much love!

Originally published at mackenziebelcastro.com