The photo above is from the Team Alicia celebration dinner.
Greetings! Per Minnesota Statute 3.011, the Ninety-third Session of the Minnesota Legislature will begin on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. House Floor Session. - Members-elect take their oath of office. - Election of Speaker of the House. - Election of Chief Clerk of the House. - Election of other officers of the House. The above were the proceedings at the Minnesota State Capital that marked the beginning of my friend, Alicia Kozlowski’s term as MN House Representative for Section 8B. January 3rd was the beginning of a dream for Alicia, the completion of a dream for me, and the ending of a wild ride to the capital. On June 3rd, 2022 I received a text from an unknown number asking if I would like to get involved with Alicia Kozlowski’s campaign. I knew my friend Alicia was running to represent Minnesota Section 8B. After attending a campaign event and speaking with Alicia about the campaign they intended to run and their goals for the time in office I offered to help support the campaign. I replied to the text sharing I am interested in learning more. After meeting with the campaign manager, I was the new Volunteer Coordinator for the campaign. I served on another friend's campaign team a few years ago I had an idea of what is involved in running and volunteering on a campaign team. I knew it would take a lot of time and effort to help with the campaign and I knew if Alicia was elected Minnesota would be better (read the Duluth New Tribune Op-Ed article posted at the end of the newsletter for more information about why). Back in June was the beginning of my involvement with Alicia’s dream to represent MN and my dream to help the candidates I believe in elected to office.
This leads me to the question, what does it take to make a dream a reality?
This is the question I have been pondering as I have wrapped up several projects in 2022 and as I am heading into 2023. I noticed in order to be successful in making a dream come true it takes a community, a community of people willing to take time from their lives to support a greater cause, a community willing to share progressive ideas that challenge the status quo, a community that cares, supports each other, and forgives each other. During my time serving on the campaign team, we built our own community as a team and also engaged with the greater community in Duluth, MN. During my time with the campaign team there were times of joy, fun, frustration, sadness, grief, (Alicia lost their Dad during the campaign), and relief. Some of these moments were expected and some unexpected. One lesson I learned from my time on the campaign team is how important it is to communicate community expectations. Have you ever noticed how when you go to a new place for the first time you might look around to see what others are doing? Think about the last time you tried something new. How did you learn how to do it? Did you watch someone else do it first? This is called social cognitive theory, developed by Albert Bandura. Basically, it proposes, learning occurs in a social context with the interaction of the person, environment, and behavior. It is essential to set community expectations because other people model the behavior they see. In order to build the community and encourage the community to know your expectations you need to communicate the what (experiences), the why, and how (beliefs and practices) behind your community expectations.
How can the communities you are involved in support your dreams? What are your expectations for your community? Do the members of the community know your expectations?
When I graduated from North Dakota State University with my Master’s degree a friend gave me a framed Henry David Thoreau quote, "Go Confidently In The Direction of Your Dreams". I appreciated the gift and over time, I have gained a sense of appreciation for this quote as I have found myself in situations where I have questioned my dreams wondering if I have what it takes to make this dream come true. When I start to question my dreams I think about the other times when I have been successful, I also think, "what is the worst that could happen?". If I try and it doesn't turn out how I thought it was going to then it is a lesson learned and I try something else. Asking these questions helps build my confidence and then when I decide I want to move confidently forward I ask myself if it is worth it. In other words, are achieving my dreams worth what it takes to achieve them? I had a dream of working to successfully elect Alica to the MN House however I also have a goal/dream of maintaining my well-being. In order for these two dreams to not be in conflict with each other my work on the campaign can't take away from my well-being otherwise it is not "worth" it. Every dream takes work but when the work starts to interfere with my well-being I need to think about how important this dream is to me. As my interesting ride with Team Alicia ends I learned in order to make a dream a reality, I need to work in community with others, I need to communicate my needs with my community and I need to set dreams that complement each other and don't work against each other.
As you think about your dreams think about the questions Alexandra Franzen posed in their latest newsletter, "What do you want to be celebrating 100 days from now?" That's April 26, 2023. Think about projects you want to complete, experiences you want to have, milestones you want to reach, or how you want to feel. Enjoy the ride! What actions will you take—today—to create the future you want? How can your community support you? I am also here to support you. Please send me an email noting your dreams to info@empowerpossible.com.
Also, don't forget to check out the freebie section. I created digital downloads and would like to share them with you! Take care this week and always. Thank you for your readership! Together we can regenerate our world, Julie | 
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