Editing Dreams

Often, we find ourselves “editing” our lives. Humor me for a moment, because this perspective is quite interesting: when we are young, we start by dreaming big—of careers, relationships, travel, or fame. You can put your own labels on your dreams. My labels were: performing, writing plays, making a movie, traveling the world, and getting published.

Resolutions

As we grow (and I’m not just talking about age here), we begin to edit those dreams. Although I made it to the stage in Havana, I soon learned I wasn’t going to thrive there. It wasn’t for a lack of desire or talent, but because of political reasons. So, I edited my dream.

Seeing the World

If you haven’t read about my life as a sailor, [I recommend you read it here]. That was the first dream to come true. Interestingly, I never planned to travel by boat, yet I spent nine years cruising the Caribbean. It’s not that we simply check off dreams and move on, but I can say the “edit” on my travel dreams was something special. While I would love to repeat that lifestyle, my responsibilities to my mother are currently my priority.

From the Stage to the Page

One experience I treasure dearly is my time in the theater. Every time I embodied a character, I felt the world as it was escape; I was able to visit other places and simply allow other lives to take over.

One of my edited dreams was to write characters and stories that actors would love to incarnate. Instead, I turned to writing stories—something I had always done, but never thought was particularly interesting to others.

The Adventures of Patti and Barci

In 2024, I published my first book. As of today, The Adventures of Patti and Barci has become a series of three books.

• Book One: The City of Cats – Patti, a pampered Chihuahua, meets a street cat named Barci. Patti’s life changes as she learns to share the love of her human family and discovers that life isn’t so easy for animals on the street.
• Book Two: The Forest of Havana – An adventure into the heart of the city. Patti gathers the neighborhood pets to help save endangered street animals while plotting to find Barci in the forest.
• Book Three: The North Continent – A series of letters between Patti and a secret character. Patti shares what happened when the family disappeared from Havana, telling the story of how my own family came to the United States.

I wrote these books as if Patti were writing a memoir. Perhaps it was the best way I had to tell my own story.

New Edited Dreams

Part of my dream is to see Patti and Barci in a motion picture or a puppet theater. Unfortunately, that is an expensive dream that I can’t quite afford yet. Instead, I am studying how to create a podcast to read my books aloud.

During the summer of 2025, I hosted a Live program on Facebook called Lecturas en Familia (Family Readings). After thirteen shows, I realized I’m no longer afraid of being in front of the camera! Additionally, my illustrator is currently unwell, which will delay the second book’s release.

I’d love to hear from you: Do you enjoy podcasts? If so, which ones are your favorites?

Please stay tuned for more updates on the podcast. The story only gets better from here. I’ll see you soon in the next post!