Following my dream early

This post is a bit of a follow-up to one that I wrote a few days ago on doing what you love the way you love. In that post, I talked about how I write because I love it, but I write the way I want to and the way I love (i.e. on this blog).

But since I wrote that post, I've been feeling like a bit of a hypocrite. To explain this I'll need to confide something in you. When I'm older, all I want to do is move to the seaside and open my own wedding dress shop where I design, make and sell all of the dresses. That's my dream. That's all I want to do from the day I leave school for the rest of my life.

And obviously, that involves quite a bit of sewing.

Now I love to sew. I've been sewing for as long as I can remember, and its one of my favourite things to do to relax or just for fun. I would say I'm quite good at it, and its the one thing in life that I can call 'my thing'. My thing is sewing. I'm not so great at sports or anything musical and to be honest, I don't really enjoy academia that much. But I love to sew.

My plan is and always has been to leave school after A Levels, get a job in a wedding dress shop or somewhere that makes wedding dresses or things like it while maybe doing some part time courses on couture fashion. I'll do that for a few years, gaining experience, learning skills and saving up before moving to the seaside and getting my own little shop.

But now, now I just want to start.

I do textiles in school and its fine. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I hate it, there are definitely things in it which I enjoy and love to do (mainly the practical work), but I just don't get the thrill out of it that I wish that I did. I think that its mainly because with the course I'm working on there's a list of things which I have to do, things that I have to have ticked off to get a certain number of marks.

And I just can not stand being forced to do something that I don't want to do. For example, I'm required to show how I have used computers to aide my design and manufacture. I don't want to do this, I'm not going to use the samples I make on my final piece and its not going to benefit me in any way whatsoever. So why should I do it? So I can pass an exam and get a qualification.

And that's all.

So instead of sitting on my bum and whining about how my school work isn't going to help me in my future and how I just want to finish school so I can get started on the grand plan, I'm going to do what I love the way that I love.

I'm going to get a folder, a really really nice folder and its going to become my wedding dress folder. And if I'm ever bored or have a sudden burst of inspiration, I'm going to go to this folder and fill it with research and designs and thoughts and just anything that comes out of my head that I want to go into the folder.

I'm going to buy sewing patterns and attempt to make wedding dresses, because I can't fail, I can only learn. If I have any spare money, I'll put it aside and save it for my future business fund. I'm going to start following my dream now. I don't care if it's early - is it ever too early?

Because that's what I want to do, that's what I love. For the first time in a while, I am so excited and inspired and passionate about textiles and sewing, and that's the way I want to be forever. If I start my career negatively what am I going to do in 10 years time? 20 years? 50?

And of course, I'll be bringing you all on this journey with me (you're not getting away that easily!). And maybe, just maybe, in 10 years time when I'm a supremely famous wedding dress designer (it will happen), I'll look back on this and on my very first wedding dress folder and smile at where it all started.

See you soon!