I'm a brushstroke away from making it...one dopamine dip from falling apart
Make/Believe with Alyssa Faye
I'm a brushstroke away from making it...one dopamine dip from falling apart
Sometimes progress sounds like Fall Out Boy at full volume.
Sep 06, 2025
I flooded my nervous system with nostalgia yesterday.
I had to finish painting the trim on the entire upper floor of my house, and my ADHD brain was like:
“Absolutely not. Too big. Too boring. Immediate shutdown.”
So I bribed myself the only way I knew how -- with music.
I’ve been on a “ Retro Alyssa” kick lately-- early 2000s emo/singer-songwriters who could siphon all the feelings out of your ribcage with three chords and a pinky finger.
Matt Nathanson. Dashboard Confessional. Jack’s Mannequin. Fall Out Boy.
Every song felt like opening a time capsule. Like visiting a younger me who still thought in drama, glitter, and first-kiss static.
And somehow, between coats of paint on trim and at-the-top-of-my-lungs singalongs, the task didn’t feel impossible anymore.
Music reminds me that I’m not just one self.
I’m a collection of what was. A chorus of what can be.
Even if in that moment, its just the owner of a freshly painted house.
Sometimes, to move forward, all it takes is a little borrowed energy from bittersweet angst and yesteryear.
Hey - I’m Alyssa — an artist, poet, copywriter, and idea strategist reclaiming her humanity & rewilding through words.
If you’re a Leader, Founder, Creative, or Coach yearning to grow your brand into a movement that can’t be ignored, stay close.
I’ll help you speak your best ideas into truth and tribes, with words that transcend algorithms.
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Make/Believe is where we start over - not from scratch, but from truth. This is where we remember what we actually want and learn to trust the part of us that always knew. Lets stop tolerating our life & start making the one that always should have been.