10 year anniversary: Royalty Press Reflections
Greetings Royals,
It has been a while since I’ve posted but I found it absolutely necessary for me to do so today. What’s so special about today? Well ten years ago on this date, Feb 25th, I wrote my very first blog post. Back then it was a huge leap of faith for a shy girl with a passion for words to take, to put herself out there for the world to read, but I did it. I find it necessary to recreate the tone of those first few years of my blog, the tone of honest inner musings made public. I know that over the years, Royalty Press has become more formal, less personal, less about me and my thoughts and with good reason, I needed it to reflect the development of the vision I had for this blog. Today, however, I want to get a little nostalgic.
The truth is that life has become a lot more hectic than it used to be, mostly because when I first started I was projecting, I was casting my eyes ahead towards who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do. Now I find myself living much of what I once envisioned and to be honest most days the present does not always feel as glamourous as it once looked in my head. Yet today serves to remind me and many of us, of how dreams when lived can appear to be grand burdens; weighty in their demands and merciless in it’s consequences. Maturity comes with great risk for skepticism and pessimism; locking chains of limitations over our ability to dream and hope like we once did. I have bouts of this myself, there are days when I am tired, overwhelmed by schedules, workloads, responsibilities and armed with the knowledge of what could go wrong if I don’t bow to their demands. There are days I wonder if I have complicated my life by dreaming too intensely, for reaching for too much, but those days are often drowned out in the joy that comes when one reflects. When I realize that I am actually doing the things that matter to me. I am serving Christ and growing to know him better each day, I am serving others and growing in my skill and knowledge to do it even better, I am expanding my knowledge, learning so much about so much. I am swimming in seas of words and worlds crafted by so much talented people, who like me one day dreamt!
I guess what I’m really saying guys, is that I know growing up is tough and that not everyone gets to achieve all they have envisioned, but if we start looking at our lives from lens of gratitude and hopefulness, we may find that we have accomplished so much more than we could have imagined. Even more, we may find the strength to dream again, to cast visions on maps before us and stare at it with excited determination, like an explorer preparing for the quest of a lifetime. My friends we have so much to be thankful for and so much to do still.
My very first post was about passion and to be honest I need a bit more of that these days. The truth is real life has a way of distracting us with so much other things that can sap our energy for the things we once burned for, for the ideas God had placed in our hearts when we did not see limits. I am speaking to you, but I’m speaking to me… let’s find that again, let’s figure out a way to comb through the distractions and find what matters, connect with who matters and be who God has called us to be.
In these 10 years, Royalty Press has seen books published, ideas come to life, stories told and hearts stirred. Truth is, many times I have thought about giving this space up, but each time I am reminded that it has been the birth place of much of what I have in my hand now. If you were to reflect on the last 10 years of your life, what might you find out about how you’ve lived it?
To mark today’s anniversary, the 4th book in the Gemstone Royals Series which actually started on this blog as a blog series, will be available on amazon for purchase (click here). Also this is your last day to get a free kindle copy of book 1, Kingdom of Refuge (click here). Also if you are in Grenada and you’ve shown your support for this blog in those early years, I might just have something special for you.
Be a blessing,
Kelly PW
See my very first blog post here.
Kelly is the founder of Royalty Press United. Author of the Gemstone Royals fantasy series, Twist of Faith and Crossroads. Counseling psychologist, proud Grenadian and devoted follower of Christ.
