Dreaming Big and Bigger

I've had this dream for over a decade of opening my own business. It would be open morning-late afternoon throughout the week, serving coffee and tea in the morning and lunch. I'd hire a local baker for breads, pastry and pies, and I'd make the lunches and it would be like coming to Ma's kitchen - you get two choices and they change every day. One with meat, one veg (maybe one vegan too). Just basics like good soups or stir frys all with locally grown food. Meanwhile, there's little tables and chairs around as well as sofas and coffee tables and the walls are covered in art. There would be one wall of bookshelves with our own used book collection available for our customers to peruse over their cup of soup and iced tea. On the weekends, we'd have night time events like acoustic open mic nights, poetry readings, art openings, etc.

I can visualize all of the things that would make this place extra fabulous and would attract local business and support but it all comes down to..... is that how I want to spend my days? And the answer is no. Painting is the only thing I can really see myself doing and WANTING to do day after day. Still, the vision of this alternate life is so sweet in theory (did I mention the organic garden out back, the canning and freezing at the end of the season, the local goat cheese? it goes on and on...). So maybe I need to shoot for making so much bank with my art that I can buy and operate the biz, come up with recipes, decor, etc - all the fun stuff - and leave the opening at 5 am, daily cooking, cleaning and accounting to my staff. Now THAT's sounding a little better!

Taking it to the next level, I would love to buy a two or three story old main st. victorian somewhere in this area (northern CT) or Western MA with enough land for gardens and a barn/studio out back. We would live in the upper stories, I would paint out back, and the business would be operated out of the first floor. That would allow for multiple rooms = more space to exhibit art and sell everything from clothes to jewelry to handmade toys (I'd be depending heavily on Etsy sellers!) as WELL as having the space for people to lounge and hang for a bit. The food part of it really doesn't even need to be there, it would mean a lot of extra work and permits, but it would attract more people to the space. Imagine someone on their lunch break - they could go get a fast food lunch that weighs them down and makes them ill, or they could come to my place to get healthy, fresh, homemade meal and check out some cool art while they are there or chat with other friendly locals. Good times!

Ah... I'm rambling, but Rob and I got talking about this dream again last night (it's a subject I've gone round and round with him and my best friend Emily too for years) and it always ends with "yeah, but I don't want to spend my days managing that business. I want to focus on art.". Then it hit me that as part of dreaming big, why NOT dream it exactly the way you want it? I can be the owner but I don't need to be present. I could hire some young artist to man the store while I'm working out back and I can check in when I come in for lunch and cover it when I have to. This is a mighty big dream but I guess I'm spelling it all out here to get it out of my head and into the universe. The first step is visualizing that anything is possible...

What's your BIG dream?