Let Yourself Dream a Little Bigger

Not every dream needs to begin with a plan.

Before You Write

Somewhere along the way, dreaming can become very practical.

We start asking questions almost immediately.

How would I afford that?

When would I have the time?

Is that actually realistic?

What would everyone think?

What if it doesn’t work?

And those aren't necessarily bad questions. Eventually, dreams that we want to turn into reality need plans, decisions, timelines, and probably a fair amount of figuring things out.

But sometimes we ask the practical questions so quickly that an idea never gets the chance to become a dream in the first place.

We shrink it before we've even explored it.

So today, practicality can wait outside for a few minutes.

There is nothing you have to accomplish by the end of this entry. You aren't committing yourself to anything you write down. Nobody is going to hand you a calendar and ask for a completion date.

We're just going to wonder.

What if?

Open your journal and give yourself permission to dream a little bigger than usual.

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This Week’s Prompt

What would you dream about if you didn’t have to figure out how to make it happen yet?

Forget the five-year plan.

Forget what seems most likely.

Forget, just for a page, whether you have enough time, money, experience, connections, courage, or certainty.

What sounds exciting?

Maybe you want to write a book.

Open a little shop.

Go somewhere you've never been.

Learn another language.

Change careers.

Make art.

Own a home.

Start a garden.

Go back to school.

Build something from scratch.

See your name somewhere you never expected it to be.

Or maybe your dream doesn't sound particularly enormous to anyone but you.

That's allowed, too.

The size of a dream isn't measured by how impressive it sounds when you tell someone else about it.

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If You Need Somewhere to Start...

Choose a question and follow it wherever it goes.

• What have you always wanted to try?
• What would you do if you knew you couldn't embarrass yourself?
• What dream have you dismissed because it felt unrealistic?
• Where would you love to go?
• What would you love to create?
• What would you learn simply because it fascinates you?
• If money weren't part of the decision, how would you spend your time?
• What would your dream home, career, or creative life look like?
• Is there something you've secretly thought, maybe someday, about for years?
• What would you attempt if you were allowed to be a beginner?
• What would make you incredibly proud to say, I actually did that?
• What would you regret never trying?

You might already know exactly what you want to write.

Or you might discover something halfway down the page.

Both count.

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Put It on Paper

At the top of a fresh page, write:

Wouldn’t it be amazing if...

Now finish the sentence.

Then finish it again.

And again.

Try to write ten answers without stopping to evaluate them.

Wouldn't it be amazing if...

I published a book.

I saw the northern lights.

I learned to paint.

I opened my own business.

I lived somewhere beautiful.

I became really good at something I'm currently terrible at.

I had an entire room just for books.

I made something people loved.

I took the trip.

I finally tried the thing I've been talking myself out of.

Your answers can be enormous, tiny, serious, strange, sentimental, ambitious, or completely impractical.

In fact, I hope at least one makes you think:

That's ridiculous.

Write that one down especially.

When you've finished, look over your list and circle the dream that gives you the strongest little spark of I really wish I could.

Don't make a plan for it.

Not yet.

For now, just let yourself admit that you want it.

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One Last Thought

Dreaming doesn't obligate you to do anything.

That's worth remembering.

You are allowed to want something without immediately turning it into work.

You don't need a strategy for every curiosity.

You don't need to monetize every hobby.

You don't need to transform every maybe someday into a goal with a deadline attached.

Some dreams will remain dreams.

Some will change.

Some you'll outgrow.

And every once in a while, one will refuse to leave you alone.

It'll keep appearing in notebooks.

You'll keep talking about it.

You'll notice things related to it.

You'll find yourself wondering what if? long after you closed the page where you first wrote it down.

Maybe those are the dreams worth returning to.

And when you're ready, you can figure out the practical part.

Today, though?

You can just look up.

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This Week’s Featured Journal

Dreamy Clouds Journal

This week's journal looks like it was made for daydreaming.

Soft blue is scattered with tiny stars and rows of whimsical cream-colored clouds, creating a cover that feels light, dreamy, and just a little magical.

It seemed like the perfect companion for a week when we're giving ourselves permission to look beyond what's immediately in front of us.

The Dreamy Clouds Journal can be a home for the ideas that aren't ready to become plans.

The wouldn't-it-be-amazings.

The maybe-somedays.

The things you want to try.

The places you want to see.

The ideas that arrive when your mind is allowed to wander somewhere new.

And perhaps, tucked somewhere among those pages, you'll write down something that eventually becomes much more than a daydream.

Shop the Dreamy Clouds Journal →

Already have a journal you love?

Use it.

The Journal Entry isn't about having the "right" notebook. These prompts are yours to take wherever you like to write.

Looking for a different cover?

Find the journal that feels a little more like you.

Explore the Journal Collection →

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Until Next Time

Keep the dream you circled.

You don't have to do anything with it today.

Just don't cross it out because you haven't figured out the how yet.

Some things deserve a little time in the clouds before we bring them back down to earth.

The Journal Entry is a weekly invitation to put something on paper—thoughts to explore, questions worth sitting with, and little reasons to keep filling the pages.

Come back next week for The Journal Entry No. 05.