Reinventing Myself . . .

Note: I wrote this over 8 years ago. It was a draft that I just published because I want to remember the idea of fictionalizing my life. I don't know if I'll ever actually do what I talk about in this post, but it still intrigues me.



I couldn’t sleep last night. I’m not sure if I woke up because my stomach hurt or because I had a business idea in my dream and needed to think about it in the non-sleep world.

Either way, I was awake at 1:40 A.M. and finally got out of bed at 2:30 A.M. My head didn’t hit the pillow again until 6:30 A.M., but don’t cry for me Ike and Tina. After all, I’m not a sleep-deprived mother of a new baby. (Although sometimes I think a baby sounds nice. Physically impossible, but nice.)

So back to this business idea I had during my dream . . . (anyone is welcome to it)

In my dream I was visiting a girlfriend out-of-state who owned an interior décor store. It was filled with everything I love – antiques, country paraphernalia, old, used and distressed utilitarian items, handiwork from by-gone eras -- beautiful stuff! She had a friend, Anna Jones, who was also visiting from out of town. We were talking about our love of the beautiful items we were surrounded by.

Anna mentioned that she was from Indiana, and that’s when my brain went into overdrive.

“You live in Indiana, and your last name is Jones?” I asked. “You should open a shop and call it ‘Indiana Jones’ with the advertising hook , ‘Always a shopping adventure.’”

In my dream last night it sounded like a great idea. Now it’s the light of day, I realize it’s not stellar. Even in the wee hours of the morning I knew that pursuing that idea wasn’t for me. Instead, I became fascinated with the name of Anna Jones. That’s what really kept me up.

In the end, I created a new writing persona – Anna Jones. Fictionally speaking, she’s me.

If my dreams were to come true, I’d write as Anna Jones for on-line magazines like parents.com and readers would click over to my blog and become loyal followers. Soon I’d have a reading base that would make it possible for me to approach a publisher/newspaper syndicate/agent and start a real writing career.

I’m thinking this new little writing persona might be a good thing on many levels. For starters, it may prevent me from having dreams that I’m pregnant. (Where do those come from when you’re youngest is nine?) I can live as Anna Jones who will be discovering she’s pregnant with Naomi in April.

I will be writing fiction -- finally! And with fiction the rule is, "Write what you know." Check.

I can relive those funny/exasperating/touching moments from my children’s childhood. Jeremiah (Bug) is four, Abigail (Lou) turns two in April, and Naomi (Beans) will be born in early December. As I write about the Jones children, my own kids might enjoy looking back on their younger years too.

Plus, I’ll have an outlet for all those “From the Trenches” columns I wrote when my kids were younger. In fact, I’ll pretty much be altering them to reflect Anna’s life. And I’ll make them better. Hipper. More fun. Real must-read stuff! Who knows, maybe the Chicken Soup publishers will run a few of my new-and-improved pieces in upcoming books.

One thing is for sure – I’ll be staying busy!