If I had five other lives to lead, what would I do in each of them? The first time through this exercise was in Week One on Day 6/100, and Cameron is challenging me to add five more imaginary lives to that list. In today’s post, I’m sharing those dreams and reflecting on how this process changed from Week One to Week Five.

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100 Liminal Days is an experimental project of embracing my current transitional season after exiting my business by sharing an honest, real-time account of my self-initiation experience in daily posts. I’m using The Artist’s Way as a guiding tool, and sending shorter weekly recaps only via my newsletter. Visit Day 1/100 to learn more and sign up in the footer of this page to get the weekly recaps delivered to your inbox.

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Once again, list five imaginary lives. Have they changed? Are you doing more parts of them?

Qigong Teacher

I have to mention this one because it appears to be blossoming into reality. I hadn’t consciously considered becoming a qigong teacher until a month or so ago, but as I’ve still been working through my journal lookback from April 2025 to August 2025, this notion comes up at least half a dozen times. Now that I’m allowing that desire to really sink in, I am falling in love with this dream.

I think it’s like one layer of my calling, not my entire life, but it feels like this is the part of my work that becomes the most accessible service I can offer to others. I think about how this is something for anyone from children to seniors and everything in between. It’s a healing practice for those who are physically sick or in pain, for those who are mentally exhausted and overwhelmed, and for those who simply want to cultivate healthy habits to support overall wellbeing. It doesn’t require a high level of physical strength or ability to reap benefits from practicing qigong.

In Lee Holden’s book, Ready, Set, Slow, he shares qigong success stories ranging from supporting recovery from leukemia to recovery from a hangover. I’m still only at the start of my educational journey where qigong is concerned, but my personal experience with practicing this daily has truly changed my life. Because of that, it’s easy to imagine myself sharing this with others.

Founder of a Community Center

Related to the qigong teacher dream, another imaginary life has surfaced in my Daily Pages to start a community center that offers qigong along with other healing modalities. On August 2nd, I wrote about how I had asked a local breathwork instructor if he knew anyone leading qigong classes around Austin. He thought for a minute and could only think of one person – and that same woman was mentioned to me when I asked some other folks, too. This made it obvious to me that there is a major qigong gap – even in spiritual and wellness circles – despite it being popular in other parts of the world.

In that August journal entry, I entertained some questions:

It’s super easy to find a yoga or pilates studio, but what if qigong became just as popular? What if this was a way I could attract wellness focused people, then incorporate other modalities – like meditation, art, sprints, focus training? Hmm. This went a direction I wasn’t expecting but I am here to see what comes out. What if I started a business that became a studio that becomes a community center teaching all of the things I mentioned above?

When I imagine myself living this life, I hear that part of me that loves safety and low-risk endeavors trying to talk me back from this ledge. It’s the same part of me that has nudged me to choose practical productivity over creativity and play. I even feel a little embarrassed to publish this…I haven’t even started the qigong teacher training yet! I hear that part saying, “Hold your horses, Amber! You are getting ahead of yourself.”

But then I think about what it was like when I started Trusty Oak. One might think I started out like a lot of folks – taking on work as a freelancer, getting so busy that it made sense to hire someone, then naturally – and almost unexpectedly – morphing from a solopreneurial endeavor into a full-blown agency.

Only that’s not how I did it. From day one, I meant for it to be something bigger than me. I was the first VA taking on work myself. I did gradually get busier and continued working in that role for a few years, but I hired the next VA within the first three months of starting the business. By year two, I was developing operational systems and investing in software infrastructure that would support a million-dollar agency – many moons before that would be necessary. The reason I did this was because I believed in the bigger vision I had for Trusty Oak. It was always about building something that could sustain with or without me. It was always about creating work opportunities for myself and others. I know I could do that again if I choose this path.

Handywoman and Carpenter

Another imaginary life might be to become a handywoman and carpenter. I don’t know what it is about this type of work, but I find it super intriguing. I love building things and learning how things work together. I’ve even entertained the idea in conversations with a close friend of mine who is a general contractor and architect who runs her own business. Especially in the earlier stages of my current liminal season, I had this idea that kept bubbling up to be a go-fer for her, just to get closer to the projects and learn how to be handy by observing and assisting the professional carpenters, electricians, etc. in building residential homes.

Emily and I own two rental properties – one in Austin, and one in Boise, and although we can hire a handyman/handywoman to help with various projects as they are needed, I would much prefer to be able to do that type of work myself. Our Austin property is right next door to our house and right now we are in between renters. There are a few little projects to be done before the next tenant moves in, and I have been determined to figure out how to do these things without hiring someone. So I turned to YouTube!

Just this week, I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to remove a bidet attachment without spraying water all over the bathroom or leaving any leaks. Last week, I tackled repairing a bifold closet door. These are little projects, but it felt good to be able to do these with my own two hands. What I’ve learned is that often times the challenges lie in the fact that I don’t always have the right tools or know how to use the ones I do have. But I’m learning little by little, and I would enjoy increasing my skills in home maintenance.

Florist

I absolutely love having fresh flowers in my home and nearly always have a vase of fresh flowers on my bar. When in season, tulips are my favorite! My niece is a florist and Blooms HEB assistant department manager, (congrats on the recent promotion, Marissa!) and she’s the one that got me hooked on having fresh flowers in my home all of the time. When I imagine a life as a florist, I love this life because it is both artistic and focused on bringing a little bit of nature into our lives. I’d love to learn more about various plant species and how to care for them. When I wrote about my imaginary lives the first time in Day 6/100, I mentioned wanting to be a gardener. This idea of working with plants seems to still be alive in me. I do love piddling with my plants at home!

Landscaper

As I daydreamed about being the florist, it sparked another imaginary life – the life of a landscaper. My neighbors hire landscapers to come tend to their outdoor spaces. Every once in a while, I see two or three of them out there pruning, cleaning, watering, and planting. They wear these big floppy hats and are usually also wearing headphones, quietly working on their little section, occasionally taking water breaks. It seems like such a peaceful job, and I like the idea of digging in the dirt for a living.

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Wow, looking back at my first round of imaginary lives written a month ago, I see how much more substance is in the daydream now compared to before. I really struggled with this exercise the first time through because I wanted to keep things practical and possible, and I will confess that I actually skipped this task when it was assigned again in Week Two. But looking at this new list of imaginary lives, I feel like any one of them could be something I pursue, even in a part-time capacity. It was meant to be a creative exercise, but perhaps it’s seeding a future reality.

As part of the Wealth Mastermind I’m doing with a couple of friends, I am disciplining myself to explore real ways of making money. Whether it be a one-off event or something more long-term, my goal is to identify and test ideas for generating revenue for myself. This imaginary lives exercise has really helped me think more broadly about how I might begin making money doing work I imagine I would enjoy – even if some of the work I choose is temporary.

Cameron shares that so often she has seen her students do the footwork of becoming internally clear and focused about dreams and delights, then take a few outward streps in the direction of the dream – only to have the universe fling open an unsuspecting door. She admonishes us to learn to accept this as God’s generosity in the process. Once again, I’m seeing how my evolution isn’t linear, but instead has the ability to jump timelines. I’ll take it!

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