Last night I attended the Mike Doughty living room show in Arizona. Many don’t know Mike Doughty by name alone but he got his claim to fame as the lead singer of the band Soul Coughing in the mid 90’s. In the last 15 years or so, he has had a pretty successful, although flying mostly under the radar, solo career. Last night was the second time I have seen him play at a living room show. This type of show is just as it sounds; He plays a very intimate show in somebody’s living room with no more than 30 attendees.
During his first set of living room shows in 2015 some feedback was given to him about his overly shy nature. In an intimate setting such as a living room show, it should have allowed for much more interaction with the crowd. Since Mike didn’t want to get overly involved in a conversation, as it was still a music show after all, he decided to add a question jar to his 2016 living room show tour. This was a jar in which many folks in the room could add a question to. Throughout the show, he agreed to periodically answer the jar questions from the crowd. Many of the questions were interesting, unique, and funny.
The most interesting question, at least for me, was the following… “What would you rather be doing right now?” And there it was, the question that every dreamer should be asking him or herself. Mike gave the answer that I think most individuals with a fulfilled dream should give. His answer was…. “Just This.” He did decide to incorporate a funny addition, “…and maybe a pizza right here”, pointing to the table just to the side of him.
And there you have it. The litmus test revealed. If somebody asks you what you would rather be doing and the answer is “just this,” than it is most likely that your dream has been fulfilled. Here’s hoping you will one day be able to say, “just this” and smile big while you realize there is no need, at least for now, to dream bigger.
