A journey of 1,000 miles can start with a cup of coffee and a guitar

This weekend, the universe gave me both a gift, and a reminder.  I sometimes question if there's such a thing as divine providence, but then the universe seems to step in with a subtle kick-in-the-right-direction. 

Last Saturday, my husband and I decided to stop by a coffee shop before heading home from grocery shopping.  We had our laptop and planned to look up cool things to do on our trip to the west coast.  We wandered into the cafe, a place that we had been hoping to test out for a few weeks.

Much to our surprise, there was a man in the corner playing the guitar and singing to an empty room.  He had a smooth voice and was playing everything from blues to folk to oldies.  Several patrons had chosen to drink their coffee outside rather than listen to the musician.  My husband and I looked at each other, tossed aside our plans for playing on the computer, and sat down, an audience of two.  Not long after, a man that looked like he had ditched his biker gang to hear this guy play wandered in and requested some blues.  We hung out with the biker and the musician for several hours.  The performance was mesmerizing--and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why no one else was there.

This performance rekindled a desire I've had for years--to learn how to play the guitar.  The two boyfriends I dated before I met my husband were both guitarists, and I would be lying if I didn't say that their strumming skills were a big part of my attraction.  They both transformed when they picked up their guitar, from scrawny geeks into sexy troubadours.  However, when the second of my guitarist-boyfriends didn't work out, I did a bit of soul-searching.  I realized that rather than looking for this oh-so-sexy trait in someone else, I should get off my butt and learn to play the guitar.

That was five years ago, and though I have found happiness with my loving, non-guitar playing husband, I still have not learned how to play.  But this is the year.  It's the perfect time for New Year's Resolutions, and I'm ready to pursue this dream.  Thankfully, the guitarist had a few suggestions for learning to play--he said to check out Happy Traum's instructional videos.  It's funny how if we had chosen a different course--if we had gone home instead of tarrying, we would have missed a private concert and the renewal of a dream.

What about you?  What are your forgotten dreams?