Hello internet. I am going to speak this into existence: I’m going to be a small business owner running a cute shop selling pins and accessories, apparel, and other lifestyle goods.
This blog post is of course, taking a page out of Matthew A. Cherry’s book. He said he was going to get an Oscar nomination back in 2012 and eight years later, he got one and took the trophy home with him. We don’t have the same dream, but if “manifesting” (don’t worry, I’m cringing too) worked for him, maybe certainly, it will work for me too.
Two of the few things I’m capable of committing to in this lifetime are the two dreams I’ve held since I was 13-14. I dreamed of being a novelist, and I dreamed of running a business that sells custom-made cards. It took me a full decade to make the first come true — I participated in Nanowrimo 2018 and finished a manuscript (published exactly 1 copy of it, held by a Staples binder I bought when I was still in high school). Now in 2020, I am going to realize my second dream, albeit not selling custom-made cards.
This idea of speaking things into existence are not entirely new for me. In 2013, I told a couple of people I was training for a 10K run with no running experience, or even any experience working out, and I did it. Twice. I told several people I wanted to be a writer in 2014, and 3 years later I became a journalist. I told a handful of people (literally no more than 5) in 2018 I was writing a book and then held myself accountable to finish a bad first draft.
Now not only have I told the same handful of people that I am going to start this business, I’m going to tell the entire internet (while pretending people actually read this blog). Have I made pins before? No. Have I started a business before? Not seriously, no. Do I even design things? Not anymore, and never consumer goods.
But I’m a 25-year-old with time and access to the internet. I’ve learned many new skills with nothing but pure dedication to using that time and access to the internet to make something out of nothing. It’s not the first time I’ve tried something new and will not be the last.
I first got this idea in December 2019 and now I have a business name, a tentative logo, and a tentative design for my first-ever enamel pin. I bought a domain name and created an Instagram account.
I am ready and not at all ready. To me, that’s the most exciting place to be, because in my experience, it’s where all the magic happens.
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