It's Never Too Late To Pursue Your Dreams

As my friend and Times colleague Mia Navarro said recently, "It's never too late to pursue your dreams. Jose Saramago started writing in his 60's!"

Well, that's what I've been doing since I left my staff position at the New York Times - pursuing my dreams. Please try to imagine, if you will, how liberating it is not to have an hourlong commute over Coldwater Canyon every day! First you must picture stop-go bumper-to-bumper traffic winding through a narrow canyon. It's as if my mind has cracked open with ideas now that the grinding oppression of daily traffic is no longer in the sched. And to be emancipated from nine to five slavery for the first time in over 20 years is like being reborn.

A colleague wrote to tell me that it takes courage to move on into the unknown. She's right. But by the time I took this step, I wasn't afraid anymore. I already felt reborn. I was starting each day with a morning walk that lasted as long as I wanted it to, and the ideas were flowing. I pitched my first story to the Studio City Sun and within 10 minutes, the editor told me to go for it. No, it's never too late to pursue your dreams.