Let’s flashback 25 years.
I can’t see where you were at that point, but perhaps you can relate to where I was: I was a young professional still new in my design career, with corporate ladders to climb and two young kids at home.
I had my sights set high at work. I had a family I wanted to put my all into.
...And I had a passion -- my painting -- that I’d firmly set aside to make those things happen.
What I told myself: It can wait for later.
Now let’s bring it back to present day. My design career evolved into my own business that I’ve run for more than 15 years. My kids are both grown, graduated from college, and living on their own in California and New York City.
...And up until not too long ago, my painting was still set aside.
What I told myself: It can wait for later.
I couldn’t possibly paint every day -- it wouldn’t be a responsible display of my priorities. I couldn’t possibly build a business around my art -- it would never be able to support my family. I couldn’t possibly take two weeks off to paint in France -- I’d lose design business.
It could all wait for later.
Instead of getting curious about my dreams and asking what if?, I shut the door out of fear.
It wasn’t until I embraced curiosity that I asked myself a pivotal question:
What if “later” is a bad word?
I had to get curious about what was possible now, not resign myself to later. I had to get curious about the possibilities, and start asking what if? I had to get curious about what foundation was needed to make those bigger dreams happen.
Could I paint every day? What if I started weekly?
Could I build a business around my art? What if I start a website?
Could I take two weeks off to paint in France? What if I join a painters’ workshop who travels?
Getting curious about what I could do in the present opened me up to the “what ifs” that would bring those future dreams to life.
Just a few years later, I paint nearly every day. I’ve built a business around my art. And I spent two magical weeks in the south of France for the sole purpose of painting.
And in so many ways, this feels like it’s just my beginning.
It has me curious: What have you designated for later that belongs in the now? What if you get curious and ask what if when it comes to your dreams?
As the Irish poet James Stephens once said: “Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.”