These dreams are nothing short of HOLY.

I shared a video on IG this week, the afternoon of Tom’s memorial on 8.24.2019. I was practicing the song I was going to sing that evening. It was the one song I had played to him before he died, a cover of Masterpiece by Big Thief.

At the time I had said to him, I want to play music, he goes ‘you have to Hols! You have to do it!’?

In the 3 months between his death and the memorial, practising that song every day gave me one very simple task to focus on. That small feeling of purpose got me through those days. Music literally saved me in those hours.?

Before that night I had never performed in public, and friends told me afterwards that they were nervous because they didn’t know if I could sing. Truthfully neither did I.

But I closed me eyes in front of this crowd of 100+ people, did the damn thing, and when I opened them again, I knew in every cell of my being that this is exactly what I’m here to do.

The thing is, being a musician is what other people did. Not me.

I had the great education, respectable job, I lived in the corporate world, where it was all about clients and job titles and who you knew and how much money you made. ‘No-one makes any money in music… it’s really hard to make it’...?

All the reasons why I shouldn’t give this a shot were so very loud. But 8 months later I hit a very painful grief-induced rock bottom, and in a psychedelic haze I saw myself in my magic mirror, on stage in front of thousands of people.?

As much as I subsequently thought I had totally lost my mind, for believing that that reality might even be possible… it had got to the point that the life I was ‘supposed to be living’ and ‘all the ways I was supposed to be in the world’ just couldn’t continue.

That version of me quite literally had to die.?

I’ve shared much about the interim 5 years on here before. But essentially I got to this place where I realised that YES, that version of me who could play on stage in front of crowds very much is possible, AND holding this creative dream in one hand, whilst rooting the other foot into reality, being financially self-supporting, was the only way I wanted to do this thing.

So I set out with these business dreams as well as music dreams. Both equally as important as the other. One sets me on fire. The other helps me make this dream a reality, rather than keep it perpetually elusive.?

After a decade +? in the corporate world, recruiting for high-growth businesses, being able to translate that experience of growth, and sales and people into something that can be monetised has been an ongoing process. Around each corner, new possibilities continue to be revealed, and I keep being show visions of what else might be possible. My GOD it’s been a grind. But here we are, still going. ?

I am convinced that for every single one of us, there is a dream inside, clawing at the seams to come out. And when we don’t pay attention to it, it gets upset and sad and depressed. Panic attacks set in, experience unexplained doom and gloom. A sense of lostness hangs in a cloud.

Understanding and listening to what that dream even is in the first place, is in itself such a huge undertaking, because we’ve been pushing it back down for years so that we can be all the things in the world we’ve been told are really important.?

And you know what, in my very youthful 34 years I have met a LOT of people, and a lot of VERY successful business people. And the ones who have sacrificed those dreams for success or responsibilities or the happiness of others, are miserable.?

So whilst my music dream has been ruminating and percolating, and I’m in the process of workshopping the 50 songs I have written in the last few years into an album, and live shows etc…. This business dream has been evolving too.?

I hosted an event with James Blake last year. At the time I thought it was going to be kicking off a series of these things, but as with everything, the timing wasn’t happening on my agenda.?

I have such a resistance with the term mental health, mainly because I think our general understanding of it implies there’s something wrong with us.?

There’s nothing wrong with us. We’re just a world full of people who have forgotten their dreams.?

Remembering my own was the spark plug I needed. I no longer want to die. I am no longer depressed. Sure, some days are harder than others, but I am SO in love with this life I get to live I can’t even. WOW upon WOW upon WOW.?

And is that feeling available for everyone?

F yes it is.?

And if you don’t believe me that’s ok. I believe me.

And that’s the vision for this business. How do I create something which helps people remember their dreams?

For me, it comes down to two key components: inspiration, and community.?

WE are the spark plugs for each other. It’s that simple. And when we’re in community with other spark plugs and pistons and rocket fuel… this WHOLE engine gets moving pretty damn fast. I dated someone who restores classic cars for one minute, so I’m leaning into these auto references because they’re pretty damn current.?

SO….. what does that look like?

I’m describing this series as IRL TED talks. For inspiration, community and getting turned ON to the dreams living inside of us. In business, in art…. People living FEARLESSLY. Who have set off spark plugs inside of ME. That’s what I want. That’s what I need.

And then on the other side of the coin. There’s this community piece. It’s ALL about connection. Good humans, doing some pretty damn dope things in the world. People who are building businesses and making art and creating lives that SET THEM ON FIRE.

Those are my people. And WHO is in the room, is just as important as WHO is on stage. Because I want to be in a room full of those kinda people, on a regular basis, making and breaking and creating.?

This is the place where people are going to meet the love of their lives, and make babies, and meet the John to their Paul or their other half in business and dreams. It’s the place where you come to get inspired and turned ON. In more ways than you could ever dream of.?

So without further adieu. You’re invited September 12th to the MUD\WTR: gather space in Santa Monica.

It’s the inaugural one. Because I have a BIG kinda feeling, that this time it’s ready. We’re locked and loaded. We have a media partner on board in Conscious City Guides, and I have asked some of the biggest spark plugs in my life to come and set us on fire.

With 5 sets of 12-15 mins each…

John S. Couch has been a personal mentor to me, an advisor to Whole Collective, and is packed to the brim with wisdom around all aspects of creativity. Read The Art of Creative Rebellion here.?

I met Jesh de Rox recently through John, and I have never been as excited about the potential of a business as I am with what he’s building at Superfeel.?

Chelsie Diane has set me on fire like no other. She is the permission slip we all need to GO AFTER OUR DREAMS AND CHASE LIFE AND LOVE TO ALL ETERNITY.?

My dear friend áINE will be gracing us with ancestral Irish tunes and her heavenly harmonic tones. Listen to her music here.??

And 5 years on from deciding that this is what I want to be doing, I will be singing some songs, and pinching myself that even if it all takes longer than we want, the dreams and desires placed inside of us are nothing short of Holy.?My music here.

Tickets here. Limited capacity. It is going to sell out.?

—Holly Gottlieb (Founder, Whole Collective)