A friend of mine has just started a new business making custom jewellery. The other night she told me about the struggle to sell her product—quite a normal problem for a new business to have. I was curious, so I asked her what her dream was and she replied, 'I want to make a little bit of pocket money while I'm at home with a new baby'.
I didn't say it to her at the time, but let me just say right now, that was not her dream. Yes, she wants to make some money crafting some jewellery, but her dream was completely different.
I said to her, 'let's do coffee' because I wanted to find out what her dream really is. I had a feeling her dream was something more along the lines of 'beautifying the world while creating a livelihood'—or something similar.
A captivating dream
We often feel we our goals and dreams have to make immediate sense. I can relate to this, I remember often trying in vain to help people understand what I was attempting to do after I began freelancing. My friend with her custom jewellery business felt that 'pocket money' made sense to people. It does make sense, but it does not captivate.
I bought some jewellery off her. I did not buy it out of charity, it was great jewellery. I did not buy it because of her story. I bought it because I could sense a dream tingling inside of her. I felt she just wanted to make things of beauty, and to share them with others. I felt she did not say this because she felt it would sound silly to her peers.
Here is the thing: your dream will sound silly. The main reason your dream will sound silly is because it reaches for something loftier, higher than people are often used to.
Unless you are really bold and well-articulated with your ideas you will most likely be misunderstood. When you are misunderstood you quickly receive condescension and even ridicule. It is important to not let that define or stop you.
I bet the first person to come up with the idea of human flight was called mad, and the first person to try to climb Mt Everest would have been called nuts. Whatever ideas you have inside your head, no matter how good they are, you can guarantee someone will think you are silly.
Dream brave
When I decided to quit my job selling tools for my parents—a job I enjoyed and was good at—the reason I gave was, 'I want to make stuff'.
My mother wasn't impressed! My father understood, but I think he thought I was being a silly boy, and besides—they both really liked having me work for them. I left stable paid employment anyway and attempted to 'make stuff'. I did not articulate my dream well, I did not even know my dream, and for this I received some flack.
I just received a postcard from my new cousin-in-law who has taken a brave step toward her dream of starting her own photography business. It is called #365reasonsand seeks to explore the art of life through thankfulness.
She sent me and my wife a business card and the first postcard she has made. This is a big deal—getting business cards is not only a small investment into your business, but it is a brave step of putting your intentions out there.
Now, not to belittle my friend in any way (because she is awesome), but if one were to state: 'I want to make some pocket money' on their business card, no-one would be inspired to buy the product! We find it so easy to talk ourselves down. We would never put: 'Making ...... for pocket money' on our business cards, but we say it to our friends and family. We all do it! I did it! I got pulled down many times by short-sighted friends when I attempted dream more freely about what I want to be and do.
I don't even know what my cousin-in-law 'sells' exactly, or how to get it, but 'exploring the art of life through thankfulness' intrigues me. On my business card I put 'shaper of ideas'. I feel this speaks to the custom fabrication work I do, be it a carving, a table, or otherwise. I also felt it started to speak to the depth of where my dreams were taking me—I want to shape ideas in people to inspire a better world.
Dream big
Lately I have been making tables: many, many tables. It is the year of the table! However, I do not want to tell people I am a table maker. Sometimes I make tables, other times I have conversations with friends or cousins and inspire them to invest deeply in the inklings of their hearts—and maybe even to get a business card.
I believe dreams come from God and have an eternal nature. You can keep on opening up a dream and it keeps getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Dreams are given to us like gifts for the world. A true Kingdom dream will bless and serve the world.
Perhaps it would be good to spend some time and ask yourself: 'what is my dream?'
Remember, your dreams will seem silly to a silly world, but just because they sound silly, it does not mean they are. They might actually be really good.
Dream free!
Jared Diprose is a self-employed Artisan and co-director of the Mosaic Workshop. He has a degree in Theology, and believes that words shape worlds. He is married to Sierra. You can see some of his work at www.facebook.com/jareddiprosecreative and you can check out The Mosaic Workshop at www.facebook.com/workshopmosaic
Jared Diprose's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/jared-diprose.html
