When I was single and living in my studio apartment in Chicago, I used to dream of one day owning a place where I could pair food and music.  In this magical place, a musician would play a concert, and then I would either make their favorite meal and serve it to the audience, or come up with a dish that I thought would taste good while listening to that artist.

On Friday, I got the chance to do just that.

My friend and fellow songwriter Clark Kelly played a show at my little hometown venue.  He requested "meat & potatoes."  So the audience got a tasty set of a Americana music whilst taking in some tasty Americana food.  The house was packed; folks were sitting on the floor.  The energy was electric.  The music and voices rang through my old building and into my heart.  And in that moment, I realized.

Dreams coming true is not as much fun as chasing them.

Don't get me wrong: watching a dream come to fruition is truly gratifying.  I felt overjoyed to see it all go down. But the pursuit?  That's what gets my creative juices flowing, my heart beating, and my wheels turning.  I'm already dreaming about the next concert (this Friday!)

Reader, we all need something to shoot for.  Take it from this dream chaser: there is nothing so powerful a human can do than to try for something--anything--that is bigger than themselves.  It's what keeps us going.  It's what makes us feel alive.  It's what energizes us when we're low on hope and optimism.  

(And man is optimism in low supply in the restaurant business).

Anyway, I'm off to keep dreaming.  See you next Monday. -Em