My Dream

I've spent my entire life trying to figure out what I would be when I grew up. When I was very small, I thought I'd be a teacher. I liked teaching my brother and stuffed animals things. Why not? Over the course of elementary school & junior high, the topics I'd be teaching changed, but that's what I wanted to be. Then in high school, I decided I would do something in international studies. I could travel the world, speak all the languages I knew, and maybe even still teach if I wanted to. In college, I wanted to be a high school French or German teacher. Then I wanted to be a political science teacher. Then I just wanted to be a politician. And then a speech writer. And then a lobbyist. The next time I went to college, I thought I might work in Human Resources (and I do, a few hours a week.) Now, apparently, I think I might want to work in Marketing & Fundraising (where I spend most of my week). But the reality is that none of these are things I actually want to do as a career...I enjoy my job, don't get me wrong, and I think I'm okay at it, but this isn't my dream either.

I often find myself walking around a store, poking through someone's blog or on Google Images, scouring magazines...all with the thought, "If I had a store, I'd sell that..." (and enter the name of a really cute item here." I think you all know I spend my time in the fall attending craft shows, trying to sell the things I make. I love doing craft shows, but they're limited...I can only take so much with me and get it set up in the allotted time (and tear it back down later that day). I can't decorate a Christmas tree to show off how cute they would look with the felt garland I made to match. I can't set up a vignette on a piece of furniture to show how cute that book print wreath would look with my white dresser and black lamp with a burlap shade. I also have my Etsy store, but have found I'm terrible at keeping up with it, especially when there's nothing driving me to it. Empty Etsy? Eh, no big deal. I'll get something up there soon.

So, here's my dream.....I'd love to open a small store someday. A building would give me something to work toward...a full store. I could set up vignettes, properly display the things I make, feature local businesses or creations...it could be whatever I want it to be. Best of all, I could make it work to fit into my life, rather than having to fit my life around a job. It wouldn't have to be Monday-Friday, leaving my house before 6am and not getting home til almost 6pm. I could make my family a part of it (once I have children). I could be the stay-at-home mom I want to be (even if my definition of home expands to include a cozy playroom in the back of a store).

How's that for dreaming? :)

I don't know that this will ever happen, but it's something I want to dream about and work toward. Whether that's creating things that will eventually go in it or just figuring out a way to save all the money to make it happen in the meantime. And I figure that by saying it out loud (or writing it on a blog) then it makes me accountable to actually doing something about it, instead of making excuses or forgetting to make time for what I want.

So there you have it. My dream. What do you dream about?