I ran across this quote last night on Facebook (and fact checked it, haha). I’ve always felt a kinship to Theodore Roosevelt, which isn’t too surprising considering I live in North Dakota. And I attended an elementary school named after him. I appreciate his perspective on a lot of things, though I am not as brave, or perhaps reckless, as he was.

This quote really got me thinking. Taken at face value, I love to look at the stars. I love how I feel as a tiny part of the universe. I love recognizing the constellations and thinking about the mythologies that are connected to it. Space is my jam. (Not to be confused with Space Jam.)

Metaphorically though, my eyes are often focused on the ground. I’m very aware of what is happening in my reality, about what might be coming in the next few steps. It’s good to watch where you’re going, you’re less likely to trip. It’s just that looking at the ground, or just at your immediate surroundings, it’s harder to dream.

But at the same time, when your reality takes most of your mental and physical ability to keep up with, like parenting and co-running a start-up with your spouse, it is often discouraging to dream. I regularly struggle to make time for my hobbies and passions, and then resist dreaming or setting goals because of the likelihood of failure. I’m trying to change that.

Serendipitously, that comic came across my feed earlier today. Changing my self-talk is a big step in the right direction. People talk about dreaming big. For me, I think I need to dream small. Can I do a little bit? Write a scene or half a chapter? Write one blog post? Yes. I can do that.

It’s like that old joke. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

And maybe that just means sneaking a look at the stars in the evenings, and watching where I put my feet during the day.