If you build it, they will talk.....

As the “Field of Dreams” game is set to be played tonight, I figured I’d write a continuation to “Stay true to the vision.” This takes me back to this movie, which was a favorite for me growing up since I was born in Iowa and when we would visit there, the Sandman motel had cornfields behind it. I remember tossing the baseball around there with my family, when we went back to visit. With this nostalgia, I write in the spirit of the movie. If you build a business that people like, they will talk. They say word of mouth is the best form of advertising and this week is proving to be the case as I have had two articles published on my business, and a third is in the works. The Zebra of Alexandria found me in my Mount Vernon Farmers market and then a gentleman driving by my corner in Reston wrote an article on me in the local Patch which he is responsible for. In addition a woman who writes for a local Vietnamese publication will be putting together something soon as well.

With all of this said I am reminded your reputation and word of mouth are the most effective advertising. If you build a business that gives value to the community around you, people will come, they will talk about you, and if it’s anything good, they encourage others because they see value in what you are doing. In real life we can make dreams possible, especially in America. People flock from around the world to come to this land of opportunity with a vision, that if they build a business, sacrifice with hard work, the success will come. Sadly Americans have lost faith in this possibility, only wanting hand out without effort. I was one of them, until I spent time among all these immigrant communities. No matter what the culture, race or whatever, they all had success working together. It began with a couple immigrants, then some more came, and eventually they had a whole community supporting each other thriving, living with their old world values, in this new world of opportunity.

We’ve lost our way of faith that God has blessed our land, and blessed us all with a free will to pursue what we desire. Sadly sometimes those desires leave us destitute, which is why so many doubt the American Dream, and instead choose a hamster wheel system that they hope can control them to make the right choices. This is not the human experience, or how we were designed to live. I’d like to encourage you that if you choose to pursue a vision that has been in your heart, God will lead you to its fulfilment. Sometimes it’s a bumpy road, since you’re human and have your will, which will at times clash with God’s will. In the end like the Alchemist story, the universe will work together to bring your destiny to reality, no matter how many bad things happen to us along the way. This is the Resurrection story as well, there is new life on the other side, we trust have to trust the master plan and surrender to our Creator’s plan.

Speaking of building things, something so simple of an image was erected and I enjoyed watch the people flocking to see this beautiful monument. Something as simple as putting up a flag, if it’s for the right thing, they will come and keep coming without coercing.