What does it mean to chase a dream?

We all have them, those dreams that dance ahead of us throughout our lives. The elusive spark that we strive for in a hope that we might, someday, catch hold of it and find that it is our shooting star that will lift us up to where we can only dream of getting.

When I was a child my parents lived in Los Angeles. I remember them rubbing elbows with the likes of Sonny and Cher and Robert Redford. I remember watching Star Wars when it came out and thinking that I wanted to do that. No, not fly in space, I wanted to make something that could suspend reality and take people to another world. I wanted to be the guy behind the camera, seeing the world come to life for the first time, or the special effects makeup artist that created aliens, or to build miniature worlds that would become real if only for a few moments on the screen.

I had no idea what the jobs were at the time, I only knew that someone, somewhere, had created something that was amazing. I wanted to do that.

My parents moved before it actually registered to me that I was living in the place that made the magic happen. My sights would shift after that. It was hard to chase a dream of film making when one lived in a high mountain valley in Northwestern Washington, seemed harder still when living in small town Alaska.

Writing was my second dream. I wanted to show the world I saw to others, if I could not do it with a camera I would try to show the world I saw though writing. My mom shared that dream, encouraged me to chase it, believed in my dreams and knew that I would catch my star.

Dreams are what Oprah Winfrey nurtures and her latest project, Your Own Show, will sort through a group of hopeful dreamers looking to get a chance to have a show of their own.

One of those dreamers, Leah Cevoli, is a free spirit with a rock-n-roll attitude that she wants to bring to a daytime talk show when Oprah launches OWN, The Oprah Winfrey Network, in January, 2011.

If you're not sure that she's the right pick, just watch the five minute video below. In the video Leah Cevoli interviews actor/singer/producer/director Chris Allport. Watch her body language and the comfortable easy way she conducts the interview. I'm sure you'll agree that she could do a lot with a daytime show of her own, watch Leah Cevoli's Oprah audition for a good idea of the kind of dedication and energy that she can bring to a show, and for details on what her vision for a daytime talk show on OWN would be.


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