Dreams, They Are Why We’re Here.

My daily check of Timehop revealed this quote from my Facebook status three years ago:”Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”  That quote is from Thoreau, and I love it as much this morning as I did three years ago.

Three years ago I was in culinary school on the cusp of realizing my dreams and diving, confidently and head first, into the direction of that goal.  However, it was not quite the life I had imagined. In some ways, it was better and in other ways it was worse.  I thought the baking would fulfill me, but what ended up fulfilling me were the relationships I built while building my dream.  To this day, those relationships still fulfill me.

When I closed the bakery and moved to this next adventure of the touring life, I again dove in confidently and head first.  I had always wondered what it would be like to tour and to work in entertainment.  I wouldn’t say it was as much a dream as it was more a wonderment.  Rob had always made it sound and look so glamorous, and I was ready for some glamor.  I am here to tell you touring is not glamorous; it is hard work. It’s different hard work than the bakery, but hard work nonetheless.  However, I’m finding that touring is fulfilling me in a way I hadn’t seen coming.  Once again, it’s relationships that are fulfilling me on this adventure.  I get to meet new people from different walks of life, people I would have never had the chance to meet in another life.  I’ve met a hipster who I can talk to about “The Walking Dead”.  He has given me hope for the hipster world, and I like hanging out with him.  I’ve met a woman whose heart is huge.  She is traveling around the United States with a goal to volunteer in every state.  I’ve met a man whose laugh is infectious.  His family came from a different country, and it has taken his entire life to become a US Citizen.  I’ve met a man who was a chef and has more layers than an onion.  He has an interesting story every single time we talk.  I’ve met a women who translates ghetto speak for me and has the most incredible eyes that match her mind.  She has become my sister.   I’ve met a man who used to be a professional wrestler.  He will beat me every time I play him in Trivia Crack.  These people I’ve met on the road fulfill me and I never saw that coming.

That’s the thing about dreams; you don’t often end up where you think you are headed and sometimes what you get out of them are entirely different than what you had expected.  I look at dreams differently these days.  I see them more as starting points rather than destinations.  Fear of disappointment and failure have often stopped me from setting goals and having dreams, however, now that I look at dreams this way the world is wide open.  The world is my oyster (yes, I added that cheesy line; stop rolling your eyes and groaning. You know you said it in your head).

So as I pack my bags for the summer leg of our tour, I’m excited.  I’m excited about all of it.  I’m excited about the new people I’ll meet and their stories.  I’m excited about the cities I’ll get to live in for a month at a time.  I’m excited about facing my fear of life in New York City.  I’m excited about it all and welcome it with open arms, facing the sun and embracing life.

Photo Source:  dreamanity.com