Priest Dreams and Screenplays

I'm taking a break from working on my third novel (which I'm really excited about) but still want to write so...  hello, new blog post. ;)

Two days ago I had an intense dream which I will now share because apparently some people like to read about my crazy dreams. I haven't really shared one in a while but I still have awesome saint dreams every once in a while. No saints in this dream but it did involve clergy and it took place in a church. Having had this dream the night/morning of my baptism anniversary, I got a kick out of it... and also wanted to talk to a priest as soon as I woke up. lol.

It started in a church which I believe was supposed to be the cathedral in downtown L.A.... but it wasn't the current cathedral. It actually looked like the original cathedral, St. Vibiana's Cathedral (you can see a picture of it here). My mom and I had gone to the noon-time Mass. Archbishop Gomez, Bishop-elects Barron, Brennan (who will be a part of my neck of the L.A. woods), and O'Connell were there with other priests. Yes, there are many priests concelebrating the Mass... and, no, I'm not sure why.

As Abp. Gomez began consecrating the host, with the rest of the clergy around the altar, a pack of wolves entered the side door, snarling at the laity in the pews. Most of us (myself included) began inching closer to the center of the aisles, prepared to run... but some people stayed behind, paralyzed by fear. One of the person who couldn't move was my mother. As much as I tried to get her to move, she wouldn't, so I worked up as much courage as I could and began to slowly walk back to where she was at.

Abp. Gomez and the other priests began making a human barrier around the altar, trying to protect it; a few priests stepping down and starting to close off any access to where the laity had run off. The wolves backed off, angry at them, but still tried to find a way around them. Still having my mother on my mind, I took my tote bag (yes, I usually use a tote bag) and began swinging it around (a total "come at me, bro" moment), in preparation for the wolves... but they never came. Since they were too busy trying to find ways through the priest -- the altar and laity being what they sought -- I figured I stepped up and linked my arm with a priest's in an attempt to prevent the wolves from advancing.

Slowly, the wolves began to back away and out of the church... except for one, who was really angry. Abp. Gomez and the three new bishop-elects stepped closed to it and it began to slither around like a snake. At that point, it was the only wolf still there. It was eventually surrounded by all four as Abp. Gomez threw holy water on it, never looking away from it. The wolf began to evaporate... though it left its skin behind; just the insides of the wolf had evaporated. At some point I had also gotten myself a small vial of holy water to keep in case I saw wolves in the future.

I woke up freaked out a bit. I also wanted to go to confession... which makes sense since I didn't go this past weekend. It took some time for me to realize that it was a dream and that I wasn't in immediate danger. In case you're wondering, no, the symbolism wasn't lost on me... nor the fact that it happened on the day of my 30th baptismal anniversary.

Dreams like this -- while I try not to read into them -- just remind me that my imagination is something else. Once (and if I had the time, I would go back and search it in the early blog posts) a priest told me that my dreams were better than the movies... which then reminded me of something that my spiritual director said to me last month. He asked if I had considered working in the entertainment industry to help the efforts to, basically, produce good content as opposed to Magic Mike movies (yes, we used this movie as an example in our chat).

My school, JP Catholic, has a great filmmaking program. I had a brief flirtation with "the biz" in my teens (long story short: I walked away from signing a contract with an agency when I was 20, a year before my reversion). My mind definitely works in a way that, as I write the story, I can envision as if it were a film. I have friends who are actors and/or screenwriters (hard to not to have at least one acquaintance in the industry when you live in L.A.)... yet I'm fairly certain that it's not a path I'd like to explore again. Still, it's something to think about.

Anyway, this was all just something to share because I wanted to keep writing and, hey, why not? lol.

Alright, I've spent enough time away from working on the novel. I really want to get at least 5000 words written for the day before I call it a night so this is it from me for now.

I hope y'all have a great rest of the work week. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God bless. :D

Where Are the Morally Correct Novels/Movies?; I Dreamt What? Babies?!

My mini road trips were cut short today because the gas prices are INSANE ($4.36 per gallon... with what's left of my misc. spending money? Pfft!) but I did get the most important things done, so WHOOO! :D lol. One of my trips took me to my college, which is a few blocks from the beach. I absolutely love it out there! It felt nice to be out there... and I'm not just saying that because I'm both close to the beach and because I'll be taking courses I'm actually excited about. Actually, I am surprised that I will be able to take Religion courses because they weren't offered when I first applied, many moons ago. And, what I was surprised to see... right across the street there is a Christian Book Store. I had to do a double take. It's interesting to see the area more religious than when I remembered it. I'll have to visit that store on one of my breaks between classes. One thing that store (as well as a conversation I had with my sis) got me thinking about how you don't really hear about many morally correct novels and movies in the mainstream.

Of course, if you look and ask around, you'll find that there are some out there but they don't get much publicity and seem to be more "underground" than anything. It stinks. Sure, there are a few exceptions like the blockbuster that was The Chronicles of Narnia and indie Bella, but there aren't enough. For those reasons, I am writing the novels (well, novel and novel/screenplay) that I'm working on. So far, I've received positive feedback from those who have had a sneak preview of what I've written... which hopefully mean I am doing things correctly. One thing I don't want is the stories to be overly preachy (because I know people tend to stay away from those) but I still want the messages to come out loud and clear without being overbearing. I have yet to finish either novel but I am definitely getting more done than I expected. And, I have to admit, I definitely watch Bella when I need to stay in that particular frame of mind (though the stories are very different). I promise to post a preview of both novels as soon as I'm done with everything, including editing. :)

As for whether I will ever have the screenplay made into an actual film, I am still undecided. I will definitely option it to a certain film company (because I trust them to do the right thing with it) but it's way too early to see what happens. I'll keep y'all updated if anything happens. And, while I'm still on the topic of films, if you want to find more good Catholic/Christian films (or films reviewed from a morally correct point of view), you can check out the site Soul Food Cinema. (See, Mark, I'm giving you free publicity! lol.)

One last thing before I call it a day on today's blog... I had the weirdest dream... in a good-ish way. lol. It wasn't a saint dream but I could've sworn there was a nun in the delivery room. Yes, you read that right. I had a dream that I was not only pregnant, I even gave birth. It was the WEIRDEST thing ever. I went through the whole thing -- asking for epidural and all (which I didn't get but didn't even need because I felt NO pain). In the end, I had the most beautiful little girl (curly brown ringlets and blue eyes). She was gorgeous! Anytime I've had baby dreams (I don't have them often) the babies have always had brown hair and blue or green eyes. I think the last time (2 years ago) I had twins and I named one of them Liam. And I know these dreams weird some of my friends out (the ones who've known me long enough) because I used to say that I didn't want children... at all. This is during my time away from the Church. Now, I think that being able to have children (or adopt children if you're not able to have them biologically) has to be the most beautiful thing in the world. Of course, no plans on having any in the near future because I have yet to find a nice, Catholic man that is crazy enough to even consider marrying me. I don't think anyone's that nuts. lol. Some day. If it's not my vocation to be a wife and mother, I'll hopefully be an elementary school teacher (as a sister) so I can at least teach them well. I love children, I think they're little jewels. I don't understand how some people want to have abortions but I won't jump into that topic because I'll be here forever if I do. lol.

Alright, well, I have a lot to do today... including trying to write more in my novels and read more of St. Teresa's autobiography. Hope everyone has/had a great day. Thanks for reading and God Bless.
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More Dreams, and Farewell Fr. Hoang!

I don't have much time right now -- Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley version I like) is starting in a few minutes and I still have a bit to do before it starts -- so I'll try to keep this brief.

My strange but wonderful dreams continue to happen. I don't know if it was because one of the last things I did yesterday was write my blog and the topic was still fresh in my mind... but I had a dream that sis and I think might be something. There's two parts to the dream (well, dreams). In the first dream, I dreamt that I was on the verge of dying and I saw the Blessed Virgin Mary came and picked me up. She was shorter than I was, dressed all in white and I remember her skin tone was darker than usually portrayed in paintings. She smiled at me and I immediately knew who she was and was so happy to see her. I believe I said something along the lines of how I'd always dreamt of meeting her. Then I told her I wasn't ready to die but she sent my soul to heaven anyway. I think I died in my dream but not entirely, if that makes any sense. Then I woke up.

Second part of the dream, well, it's still VERY fresh in my mind but I am going to have to leave some details out because I don't want to give away the other people's identities. You gotta be smart online, people. :D Anyhoo, I was working on a screenplay for a movie that was about to go into production. I had all these old friends and classmates from junior high and high school helping me as well as, let's call him Boyfriend, and his brothers. At the end of my dream, I was sitting with Boyfriend, who I'd gone to thank for his help. He ended up thanking me for helping out he and his brothers but I didn't know what I helped them with. (By the way, I should mention that all the places and people in my dream do exist in real life). So, Boyfriend either proposed or was about (that part is a bit fuzzy in my mind -- I just remember details I'm going to leave out that involve my ring finger and feeling like we were definitely spending the rest of our lives together) and then asked me why I'd changed so much "from May to October"; that all the time he'd known me, he would've never figured I'd end up at the place I was at (which was a good place). I told him that I realized that I needed to serve God and I didn't miss Mass, confession, or communion because I knew how important it was. He smiled and was very happy to hear that. Right when that happened, his parents and another brother came to go home. Boyfriend asked if they could drop me off at home because I had no way of getting there. They said yes and they asked me how to get there. I was so embarrassed about where I lived that I considered having them drop me off at the nearby park. I didn't though. Then I noticed that the dad, who was driving, was taking a detour. I wondered why until I noticed that it was to avoid traffic on my way home. That was it but the parts that sticks with me are the feeling that Boyfriend and I knew we were going to end up married and being surprised when Boyfriend asked me how and why I'd changed so much in such a short amount of time.

I think the reasons why those two things stink out are because I've been wondering what exactly I'm called to do... if I'm meant to be married or if I'm supposed to become a sister. Not only that, I don't think I realized until I woke up just how much I'd grown up and changed in such a short amount of time. Even in this past month, I've gone under an enormous transformation that I think a lot of people are surprised with. I'm really growing up (yes, I know I'm 23 but still) and I didn't realize just how much. So, yeah... it's interesting how dreams make you think. (Side note: I kind of freaked out for like 5 minutes earlier today when I was having these little twitchy pressure pains on my left side, slightly above my heart, because of the dream that I had died. So silly but true. lol.) And the romantic part of my dream will no doubt have friends abuzz about me potentially getting married soon. (*whispers* No one tell them about how I've already started designing my dress. Shh!! lol.) Moving on...

I am SO SAD 'cause Fr. Hoang is leaving one of the parishes I attend. I've gotten to know him fairly well and he's awesome. He does my confessions most of the time I do them. Aw. :( Well, may God Bless him. The Lord knows what's best for Fr. Hoang. :D

Alright well, P&P started like 14 minutes ago so I should go. lol. I always write more than I intend. :D Sorry for the long blogs. I will try to keep it shorter next time. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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Writer's Block and Doing the Sign of the Cross While Sleeping.

Why is it that every time I start to write a book (or screenplay) I go through like a week or two worth of Writer's Block? Well, no... I take that back. It isn't so much writer's block as it is procrastination. Every single time it's the same thing. I write a page or two then don't write anything for weeks. It's such a horrible habit. When one of my best friends asked me when it was due to be finished I had to set a deadline for myself or else it'll never get done. My self-appointed deadline is the day before Easter. I am aiming to have the novel done and edited (and re-edited) by then. It'll definitely not be easy -- especially since I'm still picking and choosing which things to include and which to leave out -- but I love a challenge. It's very easy for me to just write and write... it's the whole getting started thing that's always the tricky part. Once I get the first 10 pages done, it's a breeze. We'll see, though. Hopefully I can meet my deadline.

Something kind of funny that happened today was that I did the sign of the cross while I was still asleep. lol. Yeah, I'm very serious. I have the habit of turning on the t.v. if I end up waking up between 4 and 7 a.m. just because it helps lull me back to sleep again so I get my full 8 hours. I had it on EWTN in Spanish (they took the English version of EWTN off the list -- darn you, Time Warner Cable!) and I actually ended up dreaming everything that was aired on t.v. I dreamt Pope Benedict XVI giving a speech and of the Daily Mass. I actually ended up doing the sign of the cross when they priest was saying "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit..." -- and I was so completely asleep. Hahaha. It wasn't until I woke up that I realized what I'd just done and I just kind of giggled because I've never known anyone else to do that. It was awesome! lol. So that's my little story. lol.

Okay, well this blog is going to be short today. I have to get up early tomorrow 'cause I have two doctors appointments at two different places. I haven't been feeling too well lately and I need to get those things taken care of. I'm going to pray that things will get better because I've been sick for quite a while now and I miss feeling like my old healthy self. So for now... thanks for reading and God Bless. :D