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Over Your Backup Plan? Why It’s Never Too Late to Follow Your Dreams
32 Plays9 hours ago
What if your dream never died, it just went quiet, waiting for you to grow into it? Waiting for you to become the version of yourself who could finally trust enough to go after what truly lights you up.
In this episode, I revisit the version of me who flew to L.A. chasing a songwriter’s dream, leaving with self-doubt and then, later, full circle, finding proof that our deepest callings don’t disappear.
This episode will remind you that dreams don’t expire; they evolve. Everything that lights you up is a seed already planted, and most of the growth happens underground before it ever reaches the sun. If you’ve been on the fence about what direction to go, the path that lights you up is the best place to start. It’s not too late — it’s the perfect time to begin.
Alexa play “Backup Plan" by Bailey Zimmerman & Luke Combs
Don't forget to rate the podcast Five Stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Would love to stay connected:
- Website: www.wanderingthewildmess.com
- Instagram: @heatherdyann
- TikTok: @utahgirlinnash
- YouTube: @utahgirlinnash
- Email: Heather@wanderingthewildmess.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Personal Reflection
00:00:05
Speaker
Pause for a moment with me and think about that one thing that really lights you up.
00:00:17
Speaker
Now hold it. Think of it. I know you have it.
00:00:22
Speaker
All right. Now how long has it been there?
00:00:30
Speaker
See, it never goes ah away. Welcome to Wandering the Wild Mess with Heather Morgan. I am so happy you're here.
00:00:44
Speaker
All right. I'm really excited to talk to you guys about what you probably just realized is there's something in your life that truly lights you up. So when I ask the question, what truly lights you up?
00:00:59
Speaker
There's something that came to your mind. There's something that you felt in your soul like that's the thing. Whether it's creating art, whether it's whatever.
00:01:10
Speaker
We all have that thing. And a lot of times it starts really young. It's just been the one thing that when we're doing it, it just feels right in our life. And i want to reflect on something because I found an email recently that kind of brought
Discovering Old Passions
00:01:27
Speaker
this up. And I felt like if i was if I found this email that I totally forgot I ever written or had, then it was some kind of a sign for me to say someone else is probably feeling this way about ah point in their life where they thought that that thing that lights them up would be the thing that they would still be doing or would have a bigger impact or a part of their life.
00:01:50
Speaker
And it's kind of been tabled and pushed to the side. And I'm here to remind you that if it's truly something that was planted in your heart for you, you it's the seed is planted, but it's up to you to water it.
00:02:08
Speaker
But it's not going away. It's not going to leave. It's it's still there, right? And i like to think of this analogy about Sometimes in our lives we have these dreams, but we're not always ready to take the path that leads us there.
00:02:29
Speaker
And that will circle back to my email from 2011 where where ah younger me was so excited to go to l LA and go to this ASCAP songwriting conference and I was like, I have been writing my whole life.
00:02:49
Speaker
I love to write. Literally since I can remember, I have just wanted to sit and write. And like I love music. Music's always been a big thing for me. So I remember just writing songs all the time. I remember...
00:03:04
Speaker
Like I wasn't I didn't we didn't have any instruments. My grandparents had a piano. But anyways, I would write all these songs and sometimes I would forget the tune that I would write them to. So then I would just start making them into poetry because that way I could like read it.
00:03:19
Speaker
and it would sound good and like one time I remember in seventh grade there was like this poem that went around the school that I wrote about this boyfriend that kissed another girl like this is the level of like sharing my poetry I was doing at that at that age I love to write about experiences And i think I've talked about this before.
00:03:38
Speaker
Like I've been able to track back to so much in my life. i always like to write, but I feel like I never was like, oh, well, maybe I should write. I mean, I thought maybe I should write a book, but that just seems like everyone says that who's going to do that, whatever.
00:03:51
Speaker
Well, anyways, back to 2011, I had decided that I was going to go and see what like songwriting was about. And again, I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. I didn't know any songwriters. I didn't know really that many people that were writers in general.
00:04:08
Speaker
It was just like a thing that I had wanted to do. And so I'm like, I'll go out there. I feel like, you know, the people I know, they say my
Facing Career Crossroads
00:04:15
Speaker
songs are pretty good. I'll just give it a whirl. Like, of course. So I'm hyping this up.
00:04:20
Speaker
I'm like telling my all the people I know, like this is going to be so cool. Like I'm doing this thing, yada, yada, yada. And I think I mentioned this before, but I I thought like I also have been writing so much that I just think in rhymes so I could freestyle rap, which I literally not kid you thought that every songwriter could freestyle rap for whatever reason, because I just thought like if you could write a song you thought in poetry, like I really didn't know. This is, again, me not being around a lot of writers, me just only knowing my own experience.
00:04:53
Speaker
So anyways, I digress on the topic, but I want to tell you this story. So I go, I scrape the the money up, fly to LA and go to the songwriters conference.
00:05:07
Speaker
And I remember, this is back in 2011, At the time, we're in this room and they have all these songwriters that are like, um you know, I remember Fergie was there. There was some other people.
00:05:18
Speaker
But at the time, Chris Stapleton was actually there, which is like crazy because I still have a video and it is old And i had never heard of him. He was not like mainstream. He was not. I think he was in his previous band, but I had never even heard of him.
00:05:33
Speaker
And I remember he's saying, and if I've told this a little bit before, but I just remember he's saying whiskey and you. And I was like, floor, like, what is this man doing? Being a songwriter. He's an artist. Like it was insane.
00:05:47
Speaker
And it was like one of the first times where I really remember like observing someone else's talent and so much awe. That it was like amazing, but also like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. definitely I mean, I could be a songwriter, but like that's the most amazing. Like that was that's what a songwriter is like. Like how could i And the whole time I remember I just met so many amazing people, so many talented people. And I had met this one girl. it was like the whole weekend long.
00:06:17
Speaker
And she was amazing. She was going in as a country artist. She was so sweet. She had performed. There was a couple of sessions where some people would perform their songs or got them played. And we kind of critiqued. And then the experts talking about, you know, the theory of song and all that kind of thing.
00:06:33
Speaker
um And so she went, you know, she shared her song and we talked and I was like, I love it. I have this song I wrote that I think you would be like the perfect fit to sing it. And I really like it.
00:06:45
Speaker
I think you would really like it. And so her and I talked, we did some lunch and she's like, so what's your whole plan with this? And I was like, I don't know. I just want to. And this is just me wide eyed excited. And I'm like, I just kind of want to go all in on like writing.
00:06:57
Speaker
She's like, do you want to go on though? And I was like, well, I mean, kind of. She's like, I don't think you could live in Utah. I was like, Yeah, probably not. And she's like, you probably have to move to l a or New York or maybe Nashville.
00:07:11
Speaker
And i was like, oh, yeah, which I was like, wasn't really even thinking about moving. And then she but she said something I'll never forget. She was like, you know, you you kind of it's all or nothing.
00:07:27
Speaker
You kind of have to go all in if you want it to work like not everyone can make it. It's the people that go all in that make it. So if you're not ready.
00:07:39
Speaker
And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah. And I and I and I don't blame her for that. I think that there is a lot of truth to that, honestly. But I think it's just that fear in you when you're like, well, like I have to go on I don't even know how I'm ever going to even make it because there's all these talented people and then me.
00:07:57
Speaker
So I went back to my hotel room in LA that night and I was just like literally in awe of the magic that was the talent I was surrounded by. But then i like creeped in with all of this like doubt of like,
00:08:13
Speaker
what what are you doing here, Heather? You're like not even half as talented as all these people. They all are like great. They have great voices. They're really good you know musicians.
00:08:23
Speaker
They've been writing a lot longer than you. They went to school for it, like every single thing in the book. And i swear it didn't take me very long to realize that I didn't know what that would look like for me. So I just felt overwhelmed with like,
00:08:44
Speaker
doubt. And so I flew back home and I remember everyone's asking, like literally, I mean, these people, like they don't know anything. So they're like, oh, did someone pick up your song? Like, what like, tell us all. Like, it was just going to be some like, you know, um show. And I'm just like, oh, I don't know. I mean, it was great, but like, I don't know. And I don't even remember what I said other than that was the day I made the decision, like corporate's my path.
00:09:15
Speaker
And i i took the safe path. It was like I was standing there with plan A, which I've said before is like what your soul wants. And plan B is the path that you take because it fits the safety net of what society has told you.
00:09:35
Speaker
and It came flooding back to me when I was going through past
Rekindling the Flame
00:09:42
Speaker
emails. I talked about in an earlier episode about like cutting energetic ties. So I was deleting a lot of old emails and I found one where I had written this girl when I got back.
00:09:54
Speaker
I didn't even remember. And I just said, hey, I met you L.A. i love, you know, what you're doing with your music. And I would love to have ah share a song with you if you're open to it still, etc.
00:10:09
Speaker
And she responded and was like, yes, it was great to meet you. ah Send over the song. Do you have it like this, this and this? Which I didn't. You know, I don't even, you know, she wanted it this all this way. And I literally had it.
00:10:23
Speaker
It was not a fully produced song by any means. And so I was like, I just never wrote her back.
00:10:35
Speaker
I just never wrote her back. And I took the safe path and
00:10:46
Speaker
worked in corporate America, living the dream. And I'm laughing only because now the point of all of this for you to take is that, and now here I am,
00:11:03
Speaker
let's say, are we like 14, almost years later, And i'm exiting corporate America, which was my safe path, which is what my chosen path was because it felt like the right thing to do.
00:11:23
Speaker
But now my soul, my real purpose, the thing that lit me up is calling me again and saying, we don't really want to take the safe path anymore.
00:11:38
Speaker
it's It's not what we want to do. It's not what we came here to do. ah I'm kind of getting emotional because that's kind of crazy to say out loud. And i I think why. Gosh.
00:11:54
Speaker
I think why is because there's a part of you that knows what really lights up your soul and knows that you're not doing it. And the very thought that of you doing the thing that lights you up, it like excites that younger you that always wanted to do that all along.
00:12:19
Speaker
But it also scares them. It's kind of like, are we sure we can do it now? We said we couldn't do it before. Y'all, I have unpacked this so much, so I don't know why.
00:12:36
Speaker
I'm getting so emotional.
00:12:46
Speaker
But I think it's because I feel so called because I know what it feels like to be so excited to chase a dream and then table it because you don't know how you're going to get there.
00:13:05
Speaker
And the crazy thing is I still don't know how. It's not like I've uncovered some exact path to success where I know it's proven and it will all just work out exactly how I'm envisioning it because the plan is rock solid. Like I don't know.
00:13:26
Speaker
But I know that
00:13:30
Speaker
not trying and I don't even want to call it trying because I want to I don't want to say anything I wouldn't tell you so it's not trying you're doing it you're not trying and I don't want to know what not doing it looks like anymore because I've already sat in that place for so long And I'm not guilting myself or you into not taking, you know, your soul's path, the what lights you up path the first time that you had that idea.
00:14:04
Speaker
But what I'm here to remind you is that it will loop back. That path will come back. that That seed that's been planted will continue to ping at you and want to grow.
00:14:16
Speaker
Because it's part of what you came here to do. I truly believe that. It's planted in your heart for a reason. And no judgment if you if you never take that path.
00:14:29
Speaker
But I want to remind you that if it's in your heart, it's it's there for a reason. And I'm sure that you can do it.
00:14:40
Speaker
And it may just not look as stable when you're walking across the bridge, right? Like it's almost like a cement path that you, you know, you could still fall off, but it's pretty stable. Or you could take, you know, the wobbly bridge with a couple planks out and just trust that either way you're going to get across. But it's going to be a lot more fun and a lot more adventurous going on the one that wobbles a little on the way.
00:15:10
Speaker
The one that has the view that you're excited to look at every day. Not the one that has back-to-back traffic and a blazer. Nothing against blazers, but I mean, I'm wearing a tank top for once, y'all, if you're watching on YouTube.
00:15:28
Speaker
But um anyways, i it's just um it's just one of those things that I felt called to remind that when there's something that lights your soul up that much, it's it's probably a path you should think about.
00:15:47
Speaker
considering and maybe i'm I'm saying this to myself because I know that you know my stable concrete path is ending and I'm really diving into wherever This all takes me written words, songs, stories.
00:16:08
Speaker
i just have always wanted to be a storyteller and to make people feel something with my words and my and my writing. And I wrote something that I found a long ago because I would blog on and off for so many years. And I remember my happiest moments, um even when, you know, during my marriage, there would be times where I would just um tell my husband I was going to the coffee shop and I would just sit there and write.
00:16:38
Speaker
I'd get my coffee and they had this white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. And I would literally pretend like I was at some Paris cafe, like writing my heart out on this blog that everyone was reading.
00:16:57
Speaker
Cause that's what, that's what lit me up.
00:17:04
Speaker
That's what I wanted to do. And I want to give that to myself again. I want to give every opportunity that took away because I was too scared.
00:17:16
Speaker
And just say, I'm not scared anymore.
00:17:20
Speaker
Clearly, duh. um You know, or i'm i'm so i see the fear, but I'm i'm going that way anyways. And um because I feel like younger me deserves that.
00:17:33
Speaker
And that's when I'm most happy. And I feel like giving that to myself is giving the world just such a more happy, positive version of me, which I think everyone i encounter is deserving of.
Exploring Inner Work and Persistence
00:17:47
Speaker
Um, so gosh, y'all, I did not intend to be crying on this podcast episode. My, I was already, I don't know what it is. It was just the lunar eclipse. So I feel like, you know, it's, it's nine, nine, nine.
00:18:03
Speaker
Um, just so, you know, i mean, I know I'm not dropping it, right. It's already passed, but. Just for anyone that that makes sense to hear me out. You know, there's a lot going on in the sky.
00:18:14
Speaker
So my woo-woo is showing. But um basically going on all your dreams is is is where I'm headed.
00:18:25
Speaker
And I want that to hit your heart if it's meant to.
00:18:32
Speaker
And this is coming off me and a lot of, I've talked about like the lot of inner work I've done. And as part of that inner work, I've really re-examined a lot of my limiting beliefs.
00:18:43
Speaker
And because of that, I think this is coming up because I'm realizing that i i don't know if the word owe it to myself, but I want to give it to myself the opportunity to go in all in on the things that light me up.
00:19:00
Speaker
And I would love that for you too. So remember that it always circles back. It doesn't leave. It's literally like a deep rooted. If you've ever tried to pull roots out of like the ground, like when you're weeding or you're like, I was just redoing my garden and trying to get some of those roots out. They are deep.
00:19:21
Speaker
So that if something is rooted in your heart that lights you up, that you really want to do, it's going to be there for probably the rest of your life. So at some point, you're going to have to maybe scratch that itch.
00:19:40
Speaker
And if you don't, you know, that's okay. But I'm pretty excited about doing that for me. And I'm excited for you all to be here on this journey with me.
00:19:53
Speaker
as we figure it out as we're wandering the wild mess because if we don't really know. and Literally, when I thought that I was cleaning up myself and getting a little less messy and really being like introspective and being like, okay, I'm like, I'm i'm not just in the messy middle. I have it together. realized...
00:20:11
Speaker
it's always going to feel like wandering the wild mess to some degree because I can't control and plan everything like the previous version of me used to try to want to so, so badly.
00:20:23
Speaker
And so I'm forever wandering. I'm forever wild because this mind of mine is everywhere and things get messy and that's okay. We clean them up. We figure it out. It all works out.
Resources and Encouragement
00:20:37
Speaker
So I'll end this with reminding you that you can get my free inner work guide. It's in the show notes and also on my website, wanderingthewildmess.com. It's free and it's literally just for you to start thinking. So sometimes that's a good place to start when you're trying to find yourself out.
00:20:55
Speaker
If this is feeling something or bringing something up in your heart. And then the other key thing I want to remind you is Your dream isn't dead.
00:21:06
Speaker
It's patient.
00:21:09
Speaker
It's patient with you. So whenever you're ready, the dream is still there. You can go after it now or later or never. The choice is yours.
00:21:23
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Wandering the Wild Mess with Heather Morgan. You matter.