How do you deal with loneliness when you have a vision?

Imagine you are sitting having a chat with a friend in a quaint coffee shop overlooking the harbour. As one of the fishermen throws his nets out to clean them, a memory of your grandfather takes flight in your mind. But somehow this memory seems to trigger something else inside you. You shake your head as if to dislodge something embedded in your brain. A strange sort of headache, if that is even what you can call it. Your thoughts are not your own anymore.

Your behaviour begins to change. You stay up later at night tapping away at your keyboard. Your spouse notices the change and the distance between your bodies at night as you lie in bed seems to increase. The dog sniffs at you when you come home and even your children eye you suspiciously when they think you are not looking. 

You vaguely remember an alien movie you watched when you were a teen. One where a creature invaded the bodies of humans. Only the families notice something is off about the victims. This feels like your life. Even your friends stop calling to invite you over. They can’t seem to connect with you right now. You have changed. After finding a card for marriage counselling on your spouse’s bedside table, you try to explain that you are not having an affair. It just… something has changed and you just can’t explain it. You know your family loves you. But you feel so lonely. You can see the confusion and fear in their eyes.

Of course, your family and friends are afraid. The person they love is there, but not there. And no one seems to have the diagnosis you need. In your heart, you know this is not an alien invasion. It is you. Just the part of you that has been dormant. A part which awakened when you saw that fishing boat.

It is your desire for legacy. A legacy that demands to be heard. You know you need to give it a voice. Only you don’t know where to start. Almost as if your grandfather is calling to you. He is saying, “Don’t die with our memories still inside you.” It is a call you know you need to answer, but you feel so lonely. For so long, you have been on a sure and steady path. One your family has grown to trust, but now this new you… Can they trust in this dream of yours?

You call your friend and ask to go back to that coffee shop. Finally, you confess how much you crave a sense of belonging. Your desire to connect with others who are like you. Instead of judging, your friend smiles.

“I was wondering when you would be ready to tell your story.” Your friend gives you a card. “I know a book coach.”

“What is a book coach?” you ask.

“A book coach walks a journey with an author. They are a sounding boarding, helping to bring all that chaos inside your mind into a sense of order. It will take sometimes, but with some TLC and sometimes a bit of tough feedback, your words will take flight. You will create that legacy you have always dreamed of.”

“But my family. What will they think? What if no one wants to read what I have to say?”

“Your family is mirroring you. They are confused because you are. Once you decide and have a plan and stick to it, they will support you. But right now, you are undecided. Right now, you are fueling their fear.”

You pick up the card and feel the weight of it. Run your finger of the satiny feel to it. Could this book coach be the answer? The person who will take away this feeling of isolation. This feeling of overwhelm? You think of when your son leapt into your arms the day after he scored his first goal. The day you saw the blessing his coaching sessions brought. 

You open your smart phone and go to the book coach’s website. After a few minutes starting at the screen, you pluck up the courage to and book a discovery call and you just know.. 

Your time has come.