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- mr. stinky feet - Profile | Pictures | Blog
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If someone tells you that you can’t follow your dreams, don’t believe them – not even for a second.
For much of my adult life people have been telling me, “You can’t do that!” or “That will never work.” And I’m not talking about expecting things to always “work out” or “succeed”, I’m talking about following your passions, no matter the outcome. Success is never guaranteed. But stagnation is certain if you don’t ever take a leap of faith.
My own mother thought I was crazy for writing songs when I barely knew how to play a guitar. And when I first sang “Stinky Feet” for her, she said with her sweet maternal bluntness, “That’s awful. It’ll never fly.”
Shortly after Jeni and I got married, Jeni decided to quit her job and come to work with me. People told her, “You can’t work with your husband. You’ll drive each other crazy, and your marriage won’t last.”
What they didn’t count on is that Jeni and I actually enjoy spending time with each other. And, yes, sometimes being together round the clock can get nutty – that’s when you take a break. It’s not always a picnic, but it works, and at the end of the day we still (most of the time) like each other.
When we found out Jeni was pregnant, our friends and family said, “I guess that will put an end to touring together. You can’t travel when you’re pregnant.” But there Jeni was 8½ months pregnant for a six-day run at the Dubuque County Fair, trooping along among the smells of the hog barns, funnel cakes, and tractor pulls.
“Well, surely you can’t travel when the baby comes!”
Oh, yeah? Watch us! We traveled with baby Lyda, and she learned how to adapt and ride in a car seat for long distances without a video player.
“OK, fine,” they say. “You’ve done it with one, but you’ll never manage traveling with two kids.”
Done it. And still doing it. About 17,000 miles on the road together last year. It’s crazy and exhausting sometimes, and I think it’s part of the reason I’m losing my hair at an exponential rate. Frankly, I thought it would get easier to travel with the girls as they got older, but I didn’t count on a few things. They now have opinions and preferences and they voice them – sometimes loudly. (Who told them they could think for themselves?!)
So, yes, there are tears and tantrums and frazzled nerves and unfinished meals in hotel breakfast rooms all over America, but there is also laughter and joy and new people and new experiences and wonders to behold. And the main thing is that we’re together.
We still run into friends, family, and complete strangers who insist on dispensing advice laced with “can’t” and “don’t” and “shouldn’t”. We’ve learned to smile and nod our heads and plow forward. We know it’s just their own prejudice and fear talking – fear of the unknown and fear of failure and, even, fear of success. There are some people who can’t imagine living the way we do. Fair enough, and to each his own, but I can’t imagine living any other way.
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