I had a great dream once, a long time ago. It’s the only one I can recall that actually changed my life. In it I lived in an extremely small, up stairs, cramped apartment. No room for anything but a bed, a chair and a dresser with clothes piled high.
I was preparing for some guests, people I knew and loved who also happened to be successful and very wealthy. I was a little nervous and uncertain. The first guest arrived. I moved some clothes from the chair and invited him to sit. He was very uncomfortable, I could tell. I could see in his eyes confusion and disappointment. He had clearly expected more from me and couldn’t understand why I was living in such a dump. To break the ice I asked him if he wanted a beer.
I opened a door to the kitchen. I had never opened this door and didn’t really know where I was going. And I was very nervous for some reason. I found a refrigerator. In it was a single Heineken. Nothing else. I looked around at the kitchen. It was very large and yet it had never been occupied. A stone floors and stone counters. The grout was clean, and had been there for years, untouched. I opened a drawer and found a can opener. Nothing else. I looked out the kitchen window into the backyard; a forest with a running stream and deer. I turned around and saw this enormous, this absolutely mammoth, living room that must have been the length of a football field. A fireplace you could easily walk a family into. No furniture. Massive ceilings and chandeliers.
Then it finally dawned on me that this was MY house. I had never opened the doors or had the guts to explore my own house because I didn’t know it was there. I had just piled everything into the first tiny little room sized apartment I could find. Now it was time I started exploring my other rooms.
It was after this dream when my life started taking shape. I started writing music, assembled my first band and got my first record contract. And then got married, had children, went to Europe, started my own studio, record company . . . And still the rooms were small.
I don’t go for psychoanalyzing and interpretation of dreams, so please don’t do it for me. I don’t put much stock in dreams ordinarily, though they can be great fun. Unlike most of my dreams, this clearly had significance for me and made me re-organize my life and what I was doing.
Big ups to you sir. Just found this site via Gearspace and remembered hearing your name dropped on Chicago public radio back when they still had evening jazz programming. Digging your stuff!
All the best from a fellow guitar traveler
-B