Escape Velocity by Dean Gloster

 

            It’s all about escape velocity.

 

            “Aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” I have a love-hate relationship with that aphorism, because—while I love the sentiment—it’s based on sloppy physics.

            Motivational slogans are like people: We may all have a purpose, but sometimes that purpose is to serve as an object lesson to others—exactly what not to do or be. A negative mentor, as my brother Mark calls them.

            This month’s topic is dreaming big versus staying realistic, and the painful truth is, you should do both. And—even more important—then put in the work to achieve the necessary velocity.

 

Escape velocity: Without it, we don’t fling ourselves into space.

            I’ve done lots of things for love or money, and my current major pursuits are writing novels for young people and opposing the contemporary fascist takeover of the United States, along with its accompanying destruction of our Constitutional democracy. I have a better handle on the former—writing novels—because, difficult as that is, at least I’ve done it before.

            But whatever your complicated or creative endeavor, it starts with a dream—something so grand, so worthwhile, it’ll inspire you to put in the effort it will take to get there. But to keep that from being wasted effort, you also need to take realistic steps to achieve that dream.

 

            And it will take lots of effort and lots of steps, more than you imagine. Almost anything worth doing, it turns out, is hard. And putting in the hard work is where you get the most benefit: you learn skills, sharpen your tools, find resilience, problem solve—which help you in future projects and other areas in your life. You have to put in the work.

 

            I said this was a painful truth, because—especially in creative endeavors—you’ll find your current skills may not match the scope of your dreams. One of my favorite quotes is from Ira Glass, on this aching disconnect:

 

Ira Glass, spilling the tea on the pain of creativity

            But you get better, and that just increases your momentum. So get going, and work on that velocity.

 

Dean Gloster is a former stand-up comedian and a former law clerk at the U.S. Supreme Court. His debut YA novel DESSERT FIRST is out from Merit Press/Simon Pulse. His YA short stories “Death’s Adopted Daughter” and "Proof of the Existence of Dog" are in the anthologies Spoon Knife 6: Rest Stop and Spoon Knife 7: Transitions from Autonomous Press. He is at work on two more YA novels, and the one he's wrapping up now deals with opposing evil. (Which we should all do.) Despite his exhortation about velocity, he is, sadly, S-L-O-W-L-Y revising his novel. He makes periodic anti-authoritarian posts on Bluesky, where he is @deangloster.bsky.social