Before it’s Gone
Our most powerful experiences happen very quickly; before we have the time to process them entirely, the experience becomes memory, and memories are difficult to contain.
Meaningful experiences like good conversations with friends, sunrises on the way to work, or dreams we had the night before.
If you had a dream last night, you could recall it briefly after waking up. The experience may have been powerful, but then it lost shape and vaporized, and you'd be hard-pressed to describe what you experienced accurately. I seem to dream my best dreams right before I wake up, which means that my alarm clock tends to rip me out of a fun experience and into reality before I’m ready.
A great restaurant experience is ephemeral. When I think about the best food experiences I've ever had, it isn't easy to deconstruct and analyze all the individual elements of the experience. I know it was great, and I'd love to return. I would be hard pressed to describe and articulate any one aspect of a multicourse meal.
Each dish represents years of hard work over many seasons of cultivation.
For example, years ago, grapes were harvested and processed into wine. The day you enter a restaurant, the bottle containing that wine will be opened and poured into a glass for you. That glass of wine and the culmination of years of work will be gone an hour later. Years of work, now a mere memory.
I've used a fine dining example, but the same ideas apply to the local burger joint, curry house, sandwich shop, or donut bakery.
If you have the good fortune of having brief but beautiful experiences in restaurants, be grateful. Be kind to those who serve you; if you want great, local restaurants, support them. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into restaurants, and without community support, these spaces can quickly vanish before you know it. I always feel a bit gutted when I see a closed sign over the windows of a restaurant that I enjoyed.
This puts us all in a very tough position when money is tight, and the economy is soft. I get it. No one wants to read about eating delicious food when paying for groceries is difficult. The question of values remains regardless of the economic outlook. Do we believe unique, locally grown businesses have a place in our community? If the answer is yes, they need to be supported. Not everyone can afford to do this, but some can. My firmly held belief is that those who can help —should.
Most people know I'm a huge fan of Batman, but the first comic I purchased was a Spider-Man comic from the Shoppers Drug Mart we had in our Mall in St. Albert. The overall theme of his story is that "With great power comes great responsibility." Responsibility is a noun, but it's also a value. Taking responsibility to protect and fortify our communities is good for everyone, and as long as I can, I'll do my best. I hope you will too.
Friend, thank you for reading. Let’s keep some dreams alive!