What It Costs

:A common question I get about what I do whether it’s the making and selling of art, or the planning and realizing of international remote adventures is “What Does it Cost”? The question assumes I can answer like a travel agent, accountant, or gallery owner, each of which I am not.

“What does it cost” is a personal investment question. We inquire because we wonder if we HAVE what it COSTS to acquire what we find desirable. “What does it cost?” asks the question- how can I get that?

But asking a dreamer “what does it cost” is like asking a mother “how much do you love your child?”.

They LOVE with what they HAVE. To follow dreams, the same is true. It COSTS what you HAVE.

Yet… “What it costs” cannot simply be defined in dollars and cents.

The costs are not analyzed in well gridded spread sheets, or displayed in logically organized receipts neatly arranged in small manila envelopes with the red string closure.

What does it cost [to follow dreams]?

It costs long nights at your desk alone, with doubt creeping in the shadows. It costs awkward conversations about our worst ideas just to get it out. It costs time. Heartache. It costs money, yes, it’s true. Lots of it- money hard earned and quickly burned. It can cost a relationship. It costs patience. Failure.

Following my dreams has cost me many nights of sleep, sacrificed to a staring contest with the ceiling.

It costs weight loss. Weight gain. Muscle loss, Muscle gain. Confidence loss, confidence gain.Sadness. Joy. It costs risk, over and over, with the stakes growing higher and higher. It costs time with my wife. My children. Myself. It costs constant effort and belief. It costs adaptation. Rejection. It costs skin, sweat, and blood. It costs starting. It costs STARTING OVER. It costs years and years and miles and miles. It’s cost me 9 vehicles in 20 years. Pain. Discomfort. Late fees. It costs honesty with others.With myself. It costs minutes, and days, and a lifetime.

So, what does it cost to follow your dreams?

It costs everything you have."

-Jeremy Collins