Published November 15, 2025 | By Alyx E, Founder of Collectors MD

Some days, building a movement feels electric—full of momentum, purpose, and clarity. Other days, it feels like you’re carrying a boulder up a hill by yourself. Most people see the outcome: the meetings, the posts, the partnerships, the messages from people who say Collectors MD has helped them breathe again. But behind all of that is the part most people never talk about—the quiet grind of doing something bigger than yourself with no roadmap, no guarantees, and no one to hand the baton to when you’re tired. Especially when that “something” runs against the grain of an entire culture that’s content with staying the same.

The truth is, I experience the same swings everyone in this community does—the highs where everything feels possible, and the lows where doubt shows up louder than intention. There are days I wake up motivated, dialed in, overflowing with purpose. And there are days I stare at my screen, exhausted, wondering if any of this work is truly even making a dent. When you care this much about something, the emotional weight hits in both directions.

But even in those swings, I’m reminded of something profoundly important: Collectors MD was never meant to be a one-person mission. This is peer support, not leader support. A movement built on shared stories, shared accountability, and shared willingness to show up for one another. I may have started it, but I can’t—and shouldn’t—be the only one holding it up. The strength of this community comes from all of us pulling in the same direction, not from any single person trying to shoulder the entire load alone.

Building a movement rooted in meaning, impact, and real change can feel like hauling the weight of the world uphill on your own—until others step in and help carry it with you.

Here’s the part that stings a little: sometimes you finally catch momentum. Someone reaches out. A respected shop, platform, or organization expresses interest in supporting your cause. A conversation feels aligned. A door opens just enough for you to imagine what could be built together. Then suddenly the energy shifts—they disappear, get busy, go quiet, or change direction entirely. You’re left holding the enthusiasm you walked in with, trying not to let the silence turn into pessimism and self-doubt. It can feel overwhelmingly deflating. Not because you need validation, but because you see how many individuals could be supported if more people were willing to link arms instead of standing on the sidelines.

I’m incredibly grateful for every individual and organization that’s stood beside this movement. But with that gratitude comes an undeniable urgency—because even though we’re helping dozens, even hundreds of people right now, there are tens if not hundreds of thousands more struggling in isolation who don’t even know Collectors MD exists yet.

But this is the work. Movements don’t grow overnight because the road is smooth. They grow, slowly but surely, because of someone’s stubborn persistence to keep showing up—even when the road can be brutally bumpy. They grow because someone refuses to let the mission shrink just because the support isn’t always immediate. They grow because the overarching purpose outlasts the storms that pass through. Those people we haven’t reached yet? They’re out there. And we will reach them. It will take time. It will take patience. And it will take persistence—but that’s exactly what we’re built for.

I remind myself often that every meaningful change in my life—recovery, healing, connection—began with a small spark that became something bigger only through consistency. Collectors MD is no different. The lows don’t invalidate the movement. The setbacks don’t weaken the foundation. And the silence from others doesn’t erase the voices of the people who show up every day, every meeting, every message, because this community gives them something the hobby never did: honesty, belonging, and a place to set down the weight we carry and talk about what’s really going on—our habits, our struggles, our highs, our lows.

If you’re building something in your own life—a new pattern, a new identity, a new way of showing up—and it feels heavy or lonely at times, I get it. But keep going. Be relentless. Be a force to be reckoned with. Not because it’s easy, not because people will always meet you where you are, but because the work—the grind—matters. Your future self deserves what your present self is fighting for. Your purpose is bigger, stronger, and more enduring than any moment of doubt that tries to stand in your way.

#CollectorsMD
Every brick you set—every small effort, every hard moment—strengthens the foundation you’re building, even when no one else sees it.

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