If You're New to The Dreamers, Start Here

The culture is shifting — can you feel it?

I’m not just talking about a specific region, generation, or industry. And I’m not talking about pop culture and what’s happening on TikTok. No matter where you live, where you’re from, what you do or where you work, how old you are, or what you believe in — there is an underlying energy of change and transformation (or the need for it) we all are feeling more than ever. A bubbling undercurrent caused by quickly changing values, attitudes, shifting priorities, aging generations, and the new ways we’re all experiencing the world after some major and reverberating events in the last few years.

But more on this deep cultural shift in another post.

What we need to note for the point I will try to make here, is that this undercurrent is already shifting us and every aspect of life and work. This deep feeling discomfort we can’t quite explain or alleviate, is (in part) caused by the widening gap between our changing world — internal and external — and the reality of the “ways of being/doing” that no longer align. Our values, needs, and wants are changing faster than the systems that operate a majority of life, work, and the world. This discomfort and exhaustion is only compounded by the disfunction created when what doesn’t work anymore is not being addressed or even acknowledged by those in positions to do so (yes, even when that is us, ourselves).

Work wise, those of us in the midst of any creative industry have been feeling it for a while. Perhaps it’s because fashion, art, design and entertainment are so closely tied to and are the first to pick up on shifts in the cultural zeitgeist and its nuanced undercurrents. This should, by rational deduction, mean that these are the industries that think differently, prioritize innovation, and lead the way forward. And yet, many of us have seen first hand how this isn’t — at least currently — really the case. What we see is (at worst) an unshakable cling to the past, or (at best) a desperate attempt at minor iteration, in hopes it all (read: commerce) just “gets back to normal”.

But… how could we expect it to, when the entire world has and continues to change, and all of us along with it? I know I’m not the first to ask this question. And this conversation is exhausting — I feel the pain of anyone who has tried to have it in the context of influencing change on any scale to no avail. I’ve been there.

EMBRACING THE CHAOS

That said, this is not another doom and gloom write up about the state of culture and the world. This is the opposite— I believe deeply that all of this is ultimately a good thing and an immense opportunity. Because it’s in moments of discomfort, uncertainty, and shakiness that things can actually start to evolve in a meaningful way. When the necessity to try new things becomes so undeniable it is impossible to kick the can any further. This is where new ideas, evolution, innovation, and forward progress are sparked or can pick up momentum. Where opportunities to carve new paths, establish new ways, and shift the paradigm are found. Where we turn the usual “why?” into “why not?”.

This is where creativity, and more specifically, creatives thrive. This is where we are really needed. This is where we create value and impact. Because the future has ALWAYS been created by those who can and do see things differently, who relentlessly question the status quo, who dream about the future, prioritize it, and believe in it enough to try something new, even when no blueprint exists.

With this, I also believe that there is a profound need for a new tribe of creatives that see, think, try and do differently. Because now more than ever we have a timely opportunity to rethink, redefine, design, build, and create new things. Things and ways and systems and companies and products and frameworks that give back more than they take, from us all.

And there has never been a better time to “do it differently” or at least to try.

What I am describing here is at the very heart of The Dreamers, this platform, and the community we are building moving forward. I’m calling this The Dreamers because… I am one. And us Dreamers need to build our tribe, help each-other bring our big, different, future-focused ideas to life, and create more Dreamers and doers in the process.

BUILDING THE NEW

To be clear, I am not suggesting that all established ways of doing things are wrong and should be thrown away, nor is this a complete rejection of proven ways and paths, of history, or of those who built to get us to where we are today. As someone who has seen and built and operated within some of these established systems myself, I understand how why it is so difficult (and scary) to take risks in the name of change.

But somewhere along the way we collectively decided that maintenance should be our greatest (and sometimes only) goal — this I do reject. The past and present should be a foundation to learn from and continuously build on, not the end form.

This isn’t about destroying the old or existing, but rather the opposite — putting our energy into building the new. That’s what I believe in, and what all Dreamers do.

The world doesn’t need more of the same or more resources dedicated to solving only for the immediate present. It’s time to shift the balance of effort from overwhelmingly focusing on maintaining the status quo and “keeping the lights on” in ways that no longer align to where the world (or our industry, business, etc) is going, to prioritizing (or at least supporting) the new— new ideas, new models, new approaches, new ways to view the world and to live and work in it, and new ways to create value (in small and massive ways).

WHAT’S NEXT

When the time is right I will share more about what we’re building and doing to help us do this, both in focused, hands-on ways and at scale.

For now, this weekly musing is chapter one of an entirely new book — one that is an open thinking space for me but that can also become a lighthouse for others just like me who see the world very differently. A place where we can share ideas and begin gathering this tribe of new-era creatives, because together we can help encourage thinking big and dreaming bigger, questioning and challenging existing limits, and — most importantly — strengthen the belief that anything is possible… by proving that it is.

I believe very much that our strength lies in finding each-other, working together, and amplifying our ideas. Not to be dramatic, but it really is up to us to create the future, one “crazy” idea at a time.

If this resonates, stick around. Send this to a friend. Stay tuned. Subscribe. 

Thanks for reading and for being here,

✨🪐 Teodora

P.S. — you can always reply to these emails or email me directly at [email protected] with feedback, thoughts, ideas, feelings, hopes….wishes…dreams.