Ohio Illuman Monthly Update - October 2019
Greetings Brothers!
Happy Halloween! 🎃
Making a Dream into Reality
What does it take?
By Tom Sparough
Dreams are an important part of our life’s journey and thus relevant to every member of Illuman. I am speaking here of those lofty aspirations that we hope to one day attain. I want to share with you my experience of making one of my dreams come true in hopes that it may help you to follow through on one of your dreams.
I have been involved with the National Storytelling Network and took on the role of the board chair of the special interest group called Storytelling In Organizations. We explore and learn about all the ways that story is used in effectively passing on lessons, branding, mission, and authentic leadership. My dream started when I wondered if I had anything original to offer to this vast body of applied organizational storytelling.
One thing I had noticed was that ghost storytelling was very popular at story festivals, but in the work world ghost stories were not being utilized. I wondered if I could write a ghost story or even a collection of stories that would convey organizational values. This became my dream.
At first, when I described this dream to people, they didn’t get it. No one said, “That’s brilliant!” But people did say, “Ahh, I think I would have to read one to understand what you are talking about.”
Four years ago, I had a lot of free time in the month of September. I set out to write these organizational ghost stories, one per day for 26 days. I remember that first day, a cup of coffee in one hand, a notebook in my other hand. What was I actually going to write?
The title of “Deadline” came to me. Over the next three hours I wrote a story about a procrastinator trying to meet a deadline and a ghost stopping her from achieving her last-minute attempt at punctuality. As a family, my wife and son and I read that story out loud. They said something like, “Wow, that’s cool.”
Over the next month, one story after another came to me. They were about communication, honesty, self-care, courage, integrity, and a host of other topics. As I wrote some of these ghost stories, I scared myself with the images. Other times I cried as wrote about the hardships involved. At the end of the month I had written the 26 stories. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, and I knew they needed a lot of editing.
That initial excitement for the stories waned. The stories remained dormant in my computer for a year. I had doubts about the project. Was it really worth all the effort? Was this about horror, or was it a values-based project?
I brought these questions to my prayer. Being the spiritual person that I am, I asked God, “Lord, do you really want me to spend my precious time on these stories? Are you in this dream of mine?”
In that moment, I received a strong feeling that God was pleased. I felt God was asking me a rhetorical question, “Do you really need to ask if I am in this project?” Then I sensed the answer to that question. “Of course,” God said silently to me. “I have been in this project since the beginning.”
So, from then on, I felt my dream was not just my dream, but that God was my partner. I could do this. I am thankful that I brought this dream to my prayer life and that I listened to what I felt.
I spent more than two years editing the stories, one per month, sharing them in a blog to get feedback. Some stories I threw out. On others, I made drastic changes. I wrote some new stories. Then I spent another year sending the entire collection out to readers who critiqued them. There were lots more changes, but all of this was pleasing to me, because with every change I felt the stories were stronger.
Because there is no established market for this kind of book, I skipped looking for a publisher and went immediately to self-publishing. I created a preview book, got more feedback, and made more changes. On August 22 of this year I published the official version of Mr. Baitenswitch, Ghost Stories to Keep You and Your Organization Alive. It is available on Amazon and by order at other bookstores.
What does it take to make a dream come true? I know for me it took dozens of people helping me out with feedback. It took hundreds of hours of unsalaried time. It took cash. But what it mostly took was the energy to stay focused on the dream. I found this to be self-fulfilling. There was continual excitement on my part as little by little the details and small accomplishments unfolded. Throughout the process, especially when doubt crept in, I found myself remembering the reassurance of God.
I hope your dreams, whether big or small, will become real enough for you to pursue them. Blessings on your journey to make them come true.
👻
Tom
Tom Sparough is the Illuman host in Cincinnati. His least favorite subject in school was English. With the help of some great teachers, he went on to earn his college degree in journalism. He has published six books including "The Human Cannonball’s Last Thought"; and "The Embodied Rosary".
