The dirty work of building your dreams

What I do to keep going when the dreaming is done

My latest collage. It’s from pieces I’ve previously used in different comics.

Dear Fellow Travelers,

Last week I told you that I was a melancholy optimist. It’s time to confess that I’m also a practical mystic.

I believe deeply in the power of imagination. Nobody has ever accomplished something great without first dreaming or imagining it.

However, I have an issue with fraudsters who peddle manifesting as a magical way to think your problems away. It reminds me too much of Professor Harold Hill’s “think system” from Meredith Wilson’s show The Music Man.

Mastering a musical instrument, building a business, or turning any dream into a reality starts with a thought, desire, or dream. But then you have to do something. A lot of something.  That initial spark must power you into action.

Building dreams is hard work.

Manifesting is not a passive activity. Making something from nothing more than a thought takes more than good vibes—it takes persistent action.

However, in our popular culture manifesting is used in a pernicious way. It’s a way for self-help gurus to blame their disciples when they fail to achieve their dreams. You failed because you didn’t try hard enough.

Rules for Manifesting I can never keep all the rulesfor manifestingstraight. I know I have to want something but I can’t want it too badly— that’s desperate—and the Universe knows if You’re desperate and won’t deliver. The Universe is cruel like that. Once I did manifest a hot, steamy bowl of Mac ’n cheese, but I wasn’t really hungry.

Whenever I have combined my imagination with persistent action, I have seen magic. Clients I haven’t spoken to in over a year have unexpectedly contacted me with work when I started working on my content marketing again for my copywriting business. They hadn’t seen any of my posts, but something promoted them to think of me.

Magic happens when we work.

I’ve been busy on a secret project these past couple of months—it’s a career change. I’m transitioning from copywriting to something else I’m incredibly excited about. Once again, I’ve experienced some magic. I was working along on a shoestring budget getting everything ready when funding for my launch fell into my lap.

Now I’m faced with the dirty work of dream building. It’s grueling. I love what I’m doing, but it’s hard to keep moving forward when I have so many demands on my time. Because this project is not ready for the public yet, it’s not bringing in any money or attention.

This is where things get hard. I know from many past failures that this is the part that will make or break this new venture.

The thing that can sustain me is my imagination. I can picture the finished version of what I’m building. I imagine how it feels to launch the business and to succeed in helping the people I want to serve.

Imaginations are tricky things. It’s easy to fall in love with dreams or to imagine grand treasures and then feel disappointed when things don’t immediately happen.

I try and remember one of my favorite movie characters, Han Solo.

He did rescue the princess, and eventually he found much more than even he could imagine.

I don’t know what’s in store for me as I close in on my launch for this next stage of my life. But I do know that if I put in the work and keep imagining my destination, the magic of life will take care of the rest.

Everything hinges on that one clause, “if I put in the work.”

This week’s creative exercise has four steps.

 First, imagine one of your big goals. Spend some quality time daydreaming. Then, write down one step you can take this week to bring that big goal closer. Third, execute! Take that one action.

Lastly, rinse and repeat!

Persistent action always summons magic.

Be the weird you want to see in the world!

Cheers,

Jason