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Before I purchased the Wimberley Valley News and Views in 2003, and before I began the Dripping Springs Outlook in 2004, I wrote a monthly column for the News and Views called The First Day of the Rest of Your Life. The magazine was owned at that time by Rodney Bursiel.
As a new resident of Wimberley, I looked forward to it landing in my mailbox every month. It allowed me to get to know local businesses and merchants, what was going on in the community and it offered me the opportunity to do something which I longed for but was terrified of.
One day I called Rodney on the phone. I explained that I had just moved here from Dallas and I wanted to begin writing a very personal column for his magazine. He didn’t need to pay me money. Just getting these thoughts out that were pushing and prodding on my conscious mind were payment enough.
I have earned money as writer since I graduated from college in 1981. For over twenty years I worked in television, first as a writer/producer teasing news stories and dreaming up promotional image campaigns for WFAA-TV in Dallas. My restless, curious nature kept me moving into different areas of TV over the years producing for different aspects of it
- sales, non-profit, even the tabloid TV show Entertainment Tonight. I was always writing, but rarely about topics of my own choosing. There was a span of several years when I wrote interior design features for the Dallas Morning News. That was great fun and fed my hunger for writing about things I enjoyed.
Some days without warning will change your life. One such happy day occurred when my husband, Kevin, and I decided after a weekend visit, we would move to Wimberley. We had no second thoughts. Our house sold the week it was listed and we found the most wonderful farmhouse overlooking a magnificent view of the Wimberley Valley. I felt like I had gotten off of the corporate train and waved goodbye as it left me at the Hill Country station.
Only a couple of months passed before I called Rodney. I explained my dream of writing a column like this: “I feel like I must write about life as I understand it now. I’ve learned many lessons through trial and error that I feel need to be shared. Fortunately, there were a couple of people along my path who shared their lessons with me, and I benefited enourmously. It is my turn, I feel a responsibility, to do this now.”
My words scared me, but Rodney completely understood what I was offering to do and accepted before I could change my mind.
So here I was, a notoriously private person, stepping out onto a ledge, naked before the universe and holding a megaphone. What had I done?
Never one to miss a deadline, I had my first column in on time. Maybe with all of the great columns in the magazine, no one would notice mine. A few months passed, I was busy settling into our new home and surroundings. One day as I was out for a walk in my neighborhood I saw a woman who lived a few houses away. I had spoken to her once or twice before. We began chatting and walking together. “Is that you who writes The First Day of the Rest of Your Life?” she asked. My heart stopped and I swallowed hard.
Yes, I nodded. “It’s really good. I felt like you were talking directly to me about something I was dealing with that day.” I started breathing again then felt what I can only describe as a volt of exquisite electricity shoot through my body. This is beyond what I could have hoped for.
My monthly columns kept flowing illuminating me as much as, I hoped, others. I had become comfortable putting myself “out there.” One day Rodney called me saying that he wanted to sell the magazine, but that he only wanted to sell it to me. What?
I didn’t know the first thing about owning and publishing a magazine. But again that nagging little voice inside of me said, “yes, you do.” I had spent the past twenty-two years learning marketing, sales and presentation from some of the best in the business. I had worked in television advertising, community relations and promotional sales departments. When I thought about it, I was very qualified to do this.
Rodney said teaching me the computer skills necessary to publish a magazine would be easy. Well, okay....
I dove head-first into the project and fell in love with it. Never had I felt more satisfied. And the magazine was flourishing. Six months after buying the News and Views, I began the Outlook. I knew that the same win-win-win relationship of readers, advertisers and magazine would work well in Dripping Springs.
The only thing that suffered was The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.
As the publisher of these magazines, my publisher’s page was filled with information about the upcoming month in town and in the magazine. There really wasn’t any time or place to share my life lessons.
Four years have passed, and I still occasionally have someone mention my column. Wimberley and Dripping Springs have proven to be rich with thoughtful, insightful people. I used to be amazed but now gratefully acknowledge that I’ve just met another extraordinary person who lives out here. Without doubt one of the most amazing people, whom I am blessed to say has become a dear friend, is Dr. Joe Vitale.
Joe lives in Wimberley. He’s a famous author, speaker and incredible person. We share a unique combination of passions; marketing and living life consciously. The latter of these passions is impossible to sum up in a couple of words. I recommend you either read Joe’s latest book, the truly phenomenal Zero Limits, or watch the film he stars in, The Secret.
He makes my very short list of mentors. I’ve featured him in the magazines before wanting everyone who gets them to have the same opportunity I did - to read or listen to his words and transcend to a higher level of living a wonderful life. Here is a link to his blog, http://blog.mrfire.com/. It will always be on the left side of this page, too.
My blog will be dedicated to living life to its fullest, sharing lessons I have learned and sharing with you the extraordinary people I have met along the way. I always want to remember that today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Live, learn and love,
Victoria
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