In a way, I wish my dream had been to become a doctor or an accountant. Both are noble and require a mind-numbing amount of work to achieve. But I couldn’t do anything that easy. I had to chase after something that has no textbook, no plan, and no roadmap.
That’s why I admire Scott Albert Johnson so much. He’s chasing a crazy dream, too. Monday, I interviewed him on my radio show and my questions kept drifting into the “when did you get this dream of being a musician and how did you achieve it?” Scott went to St. Andrew’s Episcopal School and Harvard. He’s smart enough that he could have done anything he wanted to. But while in college, a muse whispered in his ear — and she handed him a harmonica.
There was one point that he said he was studying for a final exam but kept picking up my harmonica and playing it. That’s when I knew his dream was real.
You know your dream is legit if your heart drags you toward it.
Yet there is a pretty large gap between playing music and being a professional musician. Just like there is a gap between drawing cartoons and being a professional cartoonist. It’s hard to cross that chasm. There is no roadmap. You look for role models and then you get to work.
You have successes.
And you make a lot of mistakes.
A dream can be cruel. Failure humbles you and you get to a point in your life where you start having to make choices. And during your darkest hours, you are tempted to give up. But you don’t.
Scott’s blessed. He has a great day job (at St. Andrew’s where he helps their students chase their dreams) and he has an amazing spouse. Dreams become houses of cards without a solid foundation and the glue of someone who believes in you. Scott has both. So do I.
Scott’s new album is called “Going Somewhere.” I think it’s aptly titled — because he is. He’s has a great mix of talent, hard work, friends and support.
He’s one of my role models. We dreamers need to stick together.