WEEK 19 - so big it almost feels silly
So many people are coming out of the last year with Big Changes on their minds and in their lives. Even those who made it through the pandemic without suffering a personal loss have emerged changed in significant ways.
We had to spend a long time confronting hard truths about our health and well-being, not going anywhere, and without many of the moving parts and distractions that made up our pre-pandemic days.
It made people take stock in all sorts of ways. Relationships changed, careers ended (or started, or got put on indefinite hold), social justice issues finally became mainstream concerns, the list goes on and on.
For a lot of us, the mindset shifts came from the limitations we faced. When you can’t do what you’ve always done - or the way you’ve always done it - your brain adjusts and starts working differently.
That new state of being eventually changes your focus. Sometimes it will encourage (or force) you to consider your goals and aspirations differently.
Basically, we had a collective moment of “What am I doing with my life?”
So this week I want us to honor the difficult mental work of the last year by honing in on dreams. Of course, not everyone had an epiphany about their dream(s) this past year. But we all have Big Dreams and - at the very least - they got put on hold in 2020.
This assignment is for those dreams, too.
This week is both a tribute to that hard time and a nod to the anticipation and excitement of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s about celebrating even being able to look to the future in big, audacious ways.
Your assignment: Create artwork or lettering that represents a big dream.
For me, that big dream is breaking into the food industry by attending culinary school in 2023. I don’t know the specifics of what my future art-meets-food business will be, but it’s always been a dream of mine to make a living doing *something* with food: cooking it, styling it, eating it, etc.
And honestly? I want to (and believe I can) make a GREAT living working with food, which is why the artwork accompanying this week’s assignment focuses on money too. Sometimes when I get in my own head, the idea of getting paid well to help people nourish themselves with good food sounds too good to be true… but then I remind myself that most big dreams start out that way. Plus, I did it with my art and design career. Why not food too?
Thought starters: This assignment isn’t necessarily about your creative business or practice. It’s more like bucket list stuff, getting those “big dreams” muscles working again.
And, btw, the bigger the dream the better. This isn’t a time for reasonable expectations. This assignment is about large-scale thinking, no-holds barred dreaming, (nearly) limitless possibility. It’s about the ability to dream big again.
If you knew you would succeed, what would your big dream look like?
Some examples:
Run a Michelin starred restaurant
Visit all 50 states
Become a full-time travel blogger
Buy & renovate a house
Cure cancer
Caption idea: Use the caption to describe your dream in detail!
What will it look like?
What are the details?
Why is this dream on your heart and mind?
What are your favorite parts about it?
If you’ve got the bandwidth for it, you can also explain how the last year affected your dream. Did you always want to do this and have been using it to buoy your spirits? Did you have to tuck it away somewhere safe to keep it intact? Has your “dream” changed in some significant way since early 2020 (or earlier)? Or is this something entirely new, brought on by the challenges of the last year?
Engagement tip: Let’s use this assignment to invite others to start dreaming big again, too! Ask your audience how they have been challenged or how they have changed. Invite them to share the ways they’ve been hoping and dreaming lately.
If you’re able, devote some time to reading responses and encouraging Big Dreams. You can even peep the art of your peers by using the #HOMwork2021 hashtag and leave some positive comments to encourage big dreaming in your fellow creatives!
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Don’t forget to tag me @homsweethom and use the #HOMwork & #HOMwork2021 hashtag when you post on Instagram. I love looking through your excellent creations and sharing a few of my favs every week in my IG Stories before the next assignment is posted.
x Lauren
P.S. Want this week’s artwork as a print? It’s now available for purchase here! I’m experimenting with possibly updating Ye Olde Society6 shop with artwork and wanted to use this week’s assignment to test it out.
If there’s a piece of mine that you’d love to purchase as a print, reply to this email and let me know so I can make a note of it :)
