Lusid Dream

Lusid Dream is an idea that originated at Santa Clara University, a small school in northern California, (a little south of San Francisco), by a student who thought he could change the world all by himself.



I wanted to spread happiness through the world (and find it for myself too, if possible), but I bounced around from one focus to the next, not really sure how best to do so, and how best to stay sane while doing it. At first it was a struggle, and I think the source of that struggle was the fact that "I" was trying to do it by myself. Since then the realization has been setting in that alone we can't do anything, but as a group we can do everything we put our collective minds to.



I started Lusid Dream with the idea that college time is both exremely valuable and extremely limited, and I didn't want to trade that college time for a low-wage job, that probably wouldn't even compare to the salary I'd be making once I finished my (at the time) engineering physics degree. I didn't think anyone should simply trade in their time for money, because money is just a tool that lets us better utilize time. But rather than tell everyone what I thought to be true, I wanted to be able to prove it so I could show everyone how. But I also needed a little spending money for beer and whatever else college kids might spend their money on... Plus I'd tie dyed once or twice as a kid at birthday parties and things, and remembered it being a good time. I figured, hey, I won't make much, but if I sell shirts at 15 bucks a pop a few people around school are bound to buy them, and even if they didn't I'd have a good time and sell them off at cost and not only recoup my investment, but gain some valuable experience and knowledge in the process.



I bought a tie dye kit when I got home for winter break during the summer of my sophomore year (2011/2012), then went out to the craft store, bought a 5 pack of shirts, and got to work. After getting some positive feedback and making a few sales, I was really having fun with it, so I reinvested the profits into more supplies and started trying to come up with new designs and new variations of old ones. At some point towards the end of my Sophomore year, I came up with the name "LuSiD Dream Clothing", partly because I'm interested in the exploration of consciousness, and partly because I still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and I had this little idea growing in the back of my mind that, hey, if I could make a career out of this it would be like a dream come true.



Lucid dreaming is learning to take control of a dream by REALIZING that you're dreaming and realizing that you have the ability to manipulate your dream. I've always had this idea that this is a kind of metaphor for our own reality. We actually do have the power to manipulate and control our own realities. It doesn't quite work on the same time-scale as it does in a dream, but with practice, discipline, hard work, and patience, WE can alter the state of our own existence. We also, however, must recognize that we have this power to be able to utilize it to the fullest, and most importantly we have to communicate efficiently and work together. There have definitely been times in my life (and probably will be again) when I've felt hopeless, and powerless to change the situation I've found myself in, but it's times like those in which it helps to remember something my older brother told me: there are things in life that you can control, and there are things in life that you can't, and it's a lot better to focus on the former.



By now I've come to realize that Lusid Dream is so much more than a business or art project or a person making tie dyes. It's a collaborative effort that involves music, film, sculpture, painting, partying, and most importantly; people. Even if you haven't heard of this before, you're a part of it, because no idea is really new or novel; we're all just reflections and combinations of eachother, of the eternal. Everyone is beautiful and everyone has something to offer, and if someone doesn't appear to, extend them an olive branch. Asking for help is a part of life, and those who need it most often don't or feel that they can't ask for it. Be proactive and creative; cause the change that people are afraid to even ask for on the chance that it won't come to fruition.



When we started Lusid Dream, I never expected it to get to where it is today. Hell, when I started college, I was resigned to the idea of following a "safe" career path in Engineering-Physics, living a comfortable life, and pursuing my passions in my off-time, as hobbies, with whatever energy I had left-over after work. But with a lot of hard work, determination, and the support of friends and family, my passion has become a career path and a lifestyle, and yours can be too. I would like to say thank you to my friends and family (especially my parents) for being fellow cogs in this giant dream machine.



To anyone who has a creative outlet, business idea, passion, project, or any kind of dream, I say do it, and throw your whole self into it. Share it with friends, and family, and people you trust, and share it more and more until there's nobody left you don't trust and your discomfort zone shirnks to zero. It will take several attepmts and several failures to find your niche, but everybody has one, and everybody has something to offer. This doesn't mean drop out of school or quit your day-job, but don't wait for the right circumstance or the right opportunity to discover or follow your passion, and don't let anybody tell you that "there's not much money" in whatever you want to do. If you're passionate enough, you'll find a way to make it work! If Lusid Dream had ever prioritized money over people it would've withered and died long before you ever heard about it. It's about the love and the inspiration that floods in from all around and that we try to give back even more that keeps the world turning.



As Lusid Dream has grown, I've learned more and more to trust in the power of Love and giving, and I sincerely believe that everything you put out into the world comes back tenfold. It may not seem that way all the time because of the way that we percieve time, but in the long run, positive change is real and possible. Lusid Dream isn't a business, it's an idea, a collective of like minds with endless ways of looking at the world, and endless resources for bringing ideas into reality. It's a movement, a philosophy of life that combines optimism with responsibility and awareness. Life is Love, Friends are Family.