Give Your Dreams Air

I have a dream, maybe it's an odd one: I want to live in a bookstore.

My desire would be to find commercial space in a small, rural town. Could be a shop in a building, could be a former gas station, as long as it has some sort of bathroom*.

You walk in the front door and there's an open area. This could be for (local) art showings. I'd have local art on the walls, taking a small commission from the sales. Beyond the open space are the shelves of books. I'd source them from a variety of places, garage sales are good because books are often cheap at yard sales. If locals wanted to order a book, I'd source it on line and charge a small mark up. Halfway back in the shop would be the shelves dividing the public area from my living space. It'd be basic, a continuation of the way I have things set up now---

Oh, and a bookstore requires a cat, maybe two. Indoor cats because I don't want them hunting birds.

This a dream, I understand it is not pragmatic in the least. I mean, a bookstore in a small, rural town in 2025? You'd have to have a wide variety of income sources: Notary public. Maybe start a KJ (karaoke jockey) business (every town has bars). Bring in a tiny amount on art commissions and, hey, if locals always had a dream of recording a song they wrote, I could do that, too. I am going to learn how to generate AI images and create videos so I could make videos for their songs. I could ingratiate myself with the community by doing sound in a church or two---

Teaching writing classes, I've thought about doing that.

I don't know...I've had this dream for a while. Like I said, it is not particularly pragmatic, but maybe that isn't the purpose of dreams. My main thing is living in a (very) small town. What will I do for money? I'm not sure. Most small towns have very few available rentals, you're more likely to find available commercial space---which is where the idea of a bookstore comes from.

Oh, and I'll have an old Mercedes diesel again. That is a must in my future life...

*Most businesses just have a sink and toilet in their bathrooms. I would find an old clawfoot tub from a remodel or something, fill it from the sink, and use a pump to drain it. See, I think about this a little too much.