3 Dreams I Can’t Let Go Of

As life goes on, I find myself dreaming just a little less. In a way, it’s almost nice. Sad that reality takes some of those dreams away. On the other hand, it means the dreams that are still with me really mean something and have great significance.

My therapist and I have been working on dreaming. Well, we’ve been working on me rolling my eyes less when I hear the word “dream.” See for me, dreaming is a waste of time. Why dream when you could keep your nose down and work. I don’t want to be a dreamer, I want to be a doer. Nor do I want to be a dreamer that people write-off as a dreamer. I’m an implementer, it’s in my nature.

I suppose I’m manifesting (ugh, hate that word) that these dreams are meant to be more than dreams. Maybe the reason they’ve stuck around is that they are going to be part of my story. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll look back and smile reading this because the dreams I thought were big were actually small in comparison to what actually happened.

Parlaying the Blog Into a Physical Product

I’ve wanted to take the blog in a direction for a long-time. Rebranding to Honestly Relatable was the first part of that long-term vision. There’s been many ideas that have come and gone, often ruled out by budget or practicality. However, my gut is telling me to keep down this road. My impatient side says to just get the idea out there this summer, but the strategic side of me says, like it always does (as is right), good things take time.

I have ideas for what makes perfect sense for this brand to expand. A chance to reach a new audience, create something that isn’t necessarily widely available and speaks to things this audience believes strongly in. My dreams require budget and while I work on that, I’m doing my due diligence and exploration.

Alissa from years ago would have left it as a dream. Afraid to say anything for fear it wouldn’t come true and afraid of looking like a failure. The current Alissa is spreading her wings a little and willing to let go of such tight control of my image. I truly do believe good things take time, especially when those are manifesting in a physical product.

Owning My Own Storefront

I have never once wanted to work for myself. In fact, I’ve run the opposite of that because I crave the reliability and consistency of a traditional paycheck. I’m far too practical (For starters, how do you afford insurance on your own?) to go off-script from what feels safe. That’s why when I found myself thinking about a physical product launch as an extension of the Honestly Relatable brand I felt like the script had been flipped. Could it be? Am I really actually allowing myself to think about that physical store I’ve dreamed about in my heart.

When I walk into a store there’s three version of me that take off:

• The Marketer – how would I advertise this?
• The Buyer – what appeals to me?
• The Dreamer – what potential do I see?

All of them tend to come together after they do their thing in me. Typically I create a mini-marketing plan or expansion ideas as well as some cute store-front window ideas. I leave it all behind when I walk out the door and start it all over again when I enter the next store. However, it’s been increasingly harder to just end that mini-business planning and leave it as soon as I exit the store. Instead of moving on, I think about what the smell of the store was. The things that made it exemplary or extraordinary. The shape of the bags and the way I was greeted as I walked through the door. All of it sort of simmers below the surface in the dream layer of owning a storefront.

Will this actually happen? Time will tell. I can say the practical side of me wants a 401K, insurance and the comfort of not quite being so vulnerable as to be generating my own income. The what if side of me? It says maybe you should start putting together that long-term business plan and see who wants to come along for the ride.

Everything Has Potential

To my detriment, everything has potential. My strength is in taking the ordinary into the extraordinary or seeing something and quickly being able to take it to the next level. On the other hand of this strength, the downfall is that nothing will ever be good enough just as it is. I will always want to make it more.

I’ve scaled back on this sort of dreamy side of myself. Unfortunately it often sets me up for disappointment but I cannot remove that side of myself. I hope that dreamer in my always stays alive. Now I see it a little bit more practical these days, which at first was hard. I was afraid the “wisdom” of aging meant I was becoming jaded. It absolutely has that potential, but it’s that potential for potential that excites me.