The Ability to Dream
I just finished Chef’s Table. It’s a Netflix show centered around chefs and their journeys. Food is definitely a part of it but it’s not the driver of the show. Sitting in that seat is the life of the chef. Who they are, how they got to where they are, what motivates them; these are the questions that are being answered as we take this journey with them.
This is a show about dreams. That is something we all can relate to. As children we dreamed of what life would be one day. As adults we often find ourselves with the very same dream. On Chef’s Table we get a first hand look at people achieving their dreams. What’s really cool is that for many of these chefs, they didn’t know this was their dream. Take Rodney Scott, BBQ pit master in Charleston, SC. When he graduated from high school, a woman walked up to him and said “I don’t know why you’re celebrating, you’re just gonna be up the street cooking hogs.” Right after that, his father said he had to be at work at midnight that night. Rodney said he felt like his dreams were taken away, he’s just gonna be down the street cooking hogs.
This led to him being frustrated for years about his life. He was good at his job but it wasn’t exactly his dream. It was when his father had a stroke and Rodney had to take over the business that he began to dream. He started to think of ways to improve it and make it his baby.
That’s the first lesson, sometimes the dream we have is the one we’ve run from. There is this beautiful nexus of passion, skill, and opportunity. Often we have one or two but not all three but when we complete the trifecta that is the sweet spot we dream of.
Sometimes having all three isn’t enough though. It is the starting point but then we have to build those dreams to the point of sustainability. This is what I wrestle with. With Live & Labor, I believe I have the passion, skill, and opportunity but do I have what it takes to make this sustainable? I have watched dreams die and others hold on for too long because they weren’t sustainable. A question many of us wrestle with is knowing when to let go.
Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number
But that leads us to the next person, Tootsie Tomanetz. This 85 year old grandmother is a pitmaster in Texas. She’s waking up at 1am to go cook. She’s doing it the hard way, burning wood down to coals. Shoveling them herself. No recipes, no thermometers, she knows the temperature by feel (I assume her hands are made of steel).
She didn’t open her BBQ joint until she was in her late 60s, the point in life where most are looking to retire and not start something new. She had been cooking for years, it was the thing she loved to do but then passion and skill met an opportunity. Tootsie is a beautiful reminder that age does not have to be a limiting factor.
A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a woman in her 60s and when I mentioned that I am in my early 30s she immediately started talking about how young I am and how much of life is ahead of me. Most of us in this age group feel like we’re behind. We struggle with whether or not we’re doing enough or have done enough. Tootsie is a great reminder that for a lot of dreams, it is never too late. You don’t have to figure it all out by 30. Very few people actually do. This is why having friends much older than you is so helpful. I find those people in my life to be a calming presence.
What Are Your Dreams?
I always say I want to retire at 45 but really what I mean is the work that I do is the work I want to do and may never stop doing, much like Tootsie. Like Rodney, I don’t want to reinvent the wheel, I just want to make it my own. Similar to chef Lennox Hastie, I want to examine and pour over every detail of my work to make something great.
Thank you all for supporting as I try to execute that vision. What are your dreams? I’d love to know. I’ll close with a quote from Rodney:
“I would watch these stories where people would come from rags to riches because they never gave up. They kept striving forward. So I always tell myself every day is a good day. It don’t always go as smooth as we want but life is what you make it. My glass is gonna be half full at all times. I’m gonna make the best of every situation. I’m gonna make sure that every day is a good day.”