You’re the undiscovered gold mine . . . exclusively in your own mind so far.   You’ve been working hard to see your vision come to pass.  You’ve cut off relationships that are dead-weights to your goals and aspirations.  You’ve also clarified those goals: both long and short term.  You’ve even read all the self-help books and traveled to seminars to find the newest granule of wisdom that will give you the mental stamina to keep going down that lonely and dark path dreamers have long walked on.  Your family may not mock you but maybe they just hold that indifferent stare when you speak of your vision: almost amused by your stubborn refusal to quit on your dream.  They would want you to conform to the rest of normal society and become an office lackey, toiling long hours for not just peanuts but for the shells of peanuts.  While this may work for some it does not work for you.  Your a wild-heart, a stallion without reins, and now you’ve taken the leap of faith and you find yourself plunging off the canyon, plummeting to a crash landing of “I told you so’s” . . . things don’t look good.

Yet despite the tidal wave of doubt rising above you, you choose to dream on, working everyday faithfully on your vision, feeding yourself daily with daydreams of what it might be when you finally make it big.  You’ve realized that blabbering your dream to every living soul within an eight mile radius is not the wisest thing: the last thing you need is more doubt hampering your mind or even worse . . . an idea-thief.  So you guard your intellectual-baby, feeding it with hope, watching movies like, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” for the umpteenth time, reading Norman Vincent Peal and quoting Og Mandino like he’s your long lost daddy.  You do this because you don’t want your baby to die.  If this idea dies: if this dream does not last this long winter of discontent, a part of you will die too.

The problem is that the rejections are piling up and now your spirit is pulling out the white flag, begging for respite from all of this slavery to “needless” affirmation.  How can you overcome this dream-killing perfect storm?

It’s really pretty simple.

You have to realize the small number of people that need to believe in your dream.  While it is good to have support from your family and friends to help you along your journey, please don’t forget that what you are looking for in essence is one decision-maker who would be willing to take the chance on you.

That’s it.

You don’t need affirmation from the whole world, just one special person.  The sad reality of dream-building is that we live in a world choc full of self-absorbed people with their own agendas.  Don’t expect for everyone to respect or care for your vision . . . look for those special few who have the influence and resources to unlock it’s potential and put it on display in front of the world.

Find that one person, and until then, above all, be that one person.

Trailblazers share a commonality exclusive to the rest of society . . . when they look back at the procession of forerunners before them, though highly grateful of their legacy and unique expression, they somehow easily find the ‘gall’ to challenge the accepted standards and precedents set by those great dream-makers of old. The perpetuation of greatness in any endeavor of life demands that the next generation outdo them, and if those former forerunners are reasonable and humble enough to know their role in the pantheon of accomplishment, they cheer on those who are next in line, as fathers and mothers, who, in many ways, have given birth to the next generation of ideas.

I have found myself marveling at the literary works of those before me and beside me today, many times committing the crime of comparison, for measuring oneself up to your heroes seems to be a seductive logicality . . . yet all those who dare to dream the dream must understand this: there is no one like you on the face of the earth.

You are an original and exclusive expression to the world, with a life-story and perspective that need not be drowned in the ocean of similarity.

Being you is not hard, being someone else is.  Trying to copy someone’s style or expression is a sin against yourself: a soul-suicide. Thus you are at your very best in whatever you do when you are you. Being you does not include lumping into such definition faults such as bitterness, rudeness, and other such personality maladies . . . those have nothing to do with the real you. The real you is found in that lonely yet tranquil place of contentment where you are not fearful of the opinions of others, yet not forcing others to be like you . . . a fine and healthy balance of both.

The crux of separating yourself from others is that many will be offended at your leap of faith . . . for many ‘clones’ defend the standard-quo as if it is the only palatable expression. Many times such people like to bind others simply because they themselves have not attained such inner-bliss or maybe fear what you might become; possibly one above them, having greater voice or influence than they have right now.  Do not worry about them.  You go forward and become the you that the next generation needs for you to be.

Fire your soul with daring, burning fear and doubt as you tread. Go firmly in the strength of your dreams . . .

The Upside to The Recession

Yes the economy is nearing all time historic lows . . . we know that . . . it’s been drilled into our minds by every cable news network ”talking-head” and ratings-hungry radio-mouth.  I must admit everytime the job losses reports come in from the federal government it can be unnerving for those who both have a job and are dearly holding onto it, and to those who are feverishly hustling to find employment once again in a bearish job-market whose hibernation seems to have only begun.  The fear is real and palpable.  You can see it draped over the faces of people as they commute to work only to arrive home to houses that are filled with relatives and friends who have lost their jobs and need to move in with them to make ends meet.  Families are getting creative . . . homes and apartments now resemble sardine cans full of people that can no longer afford their way of life . . . sadly many without supportive family walking the streets homeless, living out of their cars or worse.  The shadow of The Great Depression looms over this nation like an ominous anvil cloud and those of the lower and middle class definitely can hear the peals of thunder in the coming distance.

If you remove the layers of fear, angst, and insecurity that this current recession has spawned within so many hearts, there is an upside to all of this that I believe the media is missing.  America for the first time since The Great Depression is learning to conserve money and energy.  They are looking for power-buys that lengthen their tight-fisted dollar over their seemingly shrinking weekend . . . they’re even being conscious of their travel patterns, walking more often, using public transportation, bikes, or the once-maligned and ridiculed car-pooling system as means to cope with high gas prices.  Wherever you go the monetary squeeze is in full effect but this is not the most important aspect of the upside to this recession.

Now unemployed fathers and mothers all across America who were laid off from their jobs are now realizing that they actually have a family, that all that overtime that bought them all those wonderful things that they can’t afford now can’t buy the time that they lost away from their loved ones.  Children may not have all the up-to-date things that daddy or mommy’s overtime used to afford them but now they have something far better than that . . . a sense of togetherness that would have never been realized if the recession did not directly hit their home.

Next time around, when this recession ends and the overtime and Christmas bonuses return, when the Gross Domestic Product resurrects to her once-glorious self, may we all remember this time when the recession plucked us out of our comfy jobs and forced us to spend more time with our family then our workaholic selves were used to.  Shame on us for having to realize this at this tough time in American history.

People of America: do yourself a favor.  After your job searches online or cashing your unemployment checks . . . go hug your son, daughter, wife, and husband . . .  and tell them that you love them and then prove it to them by spending the most important stimulus check you can ever get . . . the high-yielding currency of some quality time together . . .

E.F. Ortega is a spiritual father, teacher, author, and creative visionary whose romantic fantasy novel series, “Eternal Scar” is soon to be released worldwide. E.F. Ortega lives in Orlando, Florida with his rambunctious 3 year old baby boy named Elan Ezekiel.

Along with his love for fantasy novels, E.F. is also a devout Biblical Scholar searching for truth both outside of the four walls of the church and within.  E.F. has over ten years of ministerial and pastoral experience and is a spiritual mentor to many within the entertainment, religious, and publishing industry.  He also is a songwriter of classical scores and also contemporary music ranging from alternative, rock, salsa, heavy metal, and even pop love ballads. Known for his centrist views, E.F. is not confined to one political group over the other, being a proud independent, showing his independent streak in all that he creates.

Be aware . . . E.F. speaks the truth whether people want to read it or not. . . during the course of this blog expect to be offended, uplifted, inspired, exhorted, and corrected; if not by E.F.’s seemingly boundless wisdom and humor (arrogant man that he is), most probably by his own stupid mistakes along the course of life . . . that hopefully you will avoid after reading of his wild adventures in the world of the absurd.  E.F. does not take himself seriously at all (alright maybe some times, especially when writing about himself in the third person as I currently am doing right now) and he totally expects the same from his readers . . . pointless bloviation is so allowed here!

Enter into the world according to E.F. Ortega (this third person stuff is cool . . . beginning to like it alot).  If you leave unsatisfied or intellectually unfulfilled know that you have been warned in this pithy disclaimer of the pitfalls of reading E.F.’s allegedly “mind-bending” blogs.

Well for now I shall abscond to another fruitless blog adventure, perambulating circuitously around the many ways to show off my endless vocabulary.

I hope to disappoint you every step of the way . . . if I haven’t already . . . my condolences ahead of time . . . enjoy brave readers!!!!