“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way” —
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sometimes I find myself thinking big ideas. For instance, I gaze around my home office and dream about what it could look like. Visions of neatly, categorized books, periodicals, DVDs line freshly painted walls. Pens, colored pencils, paperclips all stand at attention ready for the artist’s hand to reach for them at any given moment.
When I open my eyes, all I really see are piles and stacks of books, magazines, hard copies of stories and chapters started with perfectly good intentions. Christmas bags and cards remind me of the holiday past. Clean laundry unfolded but not put away stare at me from another corner. The tasks before me feel overwhelming. I sit and stare. Nothing gets accomplished.
Then I begin to daydream — what if I organized my floor to ceiling bookcase, giving away books I’ve already read and probably won’t read again, dusting and putting items in some form of order so I might find them again. I could just get rid of this jam-packed cabinet and move in a comfortable chair to cozy up in during break time. Maybe read a book or write something poetic in a relaxed position.
So much to plow through and so little energy and time. It would be impossible to organize every nook and cranny of my office or query every targeted publication in one day or even one week. 
But I can work through one pile at a time. One corner at a time. I can set a goal to send an article idea to one or two editors a week. I can share my goals with my writer’s group and they will hold me accountable.
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