If I Could Have Dinner With Anyone

Dinner seems to be the thing we all do. We gather for meals. Gather around the television, around the coffee table, around big banquet tables, or small two seat tables. We gather, we eat, we laugh, we talk about our days. What is it about sitting around a table that provokes the type of interaction we all desperately need on the regular in our lives?

What if you could choose anyone in the world -- living, dead, fictional, future -- who would you want to eat dinner with? For me, there are a few I can rattle off the top of my head.

Photo Credit

Sara Bareilles

Let's see, there's Sara Bareilles, because (other than my huge girl crush on her and fan status) she is hilarious. I've been to her shows, she talks to the crowd in the way that my girlfriends talk to me. She is silly, sarcastic, and values deep thought and feelings. She's a go-getter, a real woman with fears and challenges who goes after her dreams, and encourages other women to do the same. She seems to be above the perils of stardom, and instead just keeps putting out real, raw, fantastic music. Plus, she is one of the best live shows I've been to. Her voice is always spot on, and she really knows how to tug on my heartstrings with her songs. I'd love to have dinner and chat about whatever comes up, and let her motivation and positive energy radiate on to me. Oh, and did I mention that she wrote all the music for the new broadway musical Waitress? I'm dying to see it.

Check out this full stream of her latest concert showcasing all the songs from Waitress. You won't regret the time spent watching the entire concert. She is SO GOOD LIVE. (I've pinned the video to start at her last song because it's incredible, but you should watch the whole thing.)

Photo Credit

Aldous Huxley

I wrote about my love for Aldous Huxley's books on this blog before. At an extremely pivotal moment in my life, I discovered his book Island. Having previously read Brave New World, I didn't hesitate to purchase it. Little did I know, his views on modern western society and the idiocies of so many cultural norms, was eye-opening and mind-altering. I will forever keep that book with all of its dog-eared pages and highlighted passages, as my own form of scripture. It's rare that I find a book that entangles itself on every particle of my thoughts, but I couldn't put it down, and couldn't stop highlighting. It's not an easy read, in fact, most reviews said it was boring as it doesn't appear to take us anywhere in a story, it's just hundreds of pages of conversation between a man of the west, and people in a utopian island civilization. 

I would love to sit and have dinner with this man, and discuss the wiles of society, and all the things we are doing wrong, and the simple changes that could fix our health and mental health problems, our crime rates, our religious battles, our war-hungry government, and everything else. The man was ahead of his time but also more appropriate for the times than anything I've heard. 

My Mom

Ok, if you've paid attention, then you know why she is on my list. This lady was my favorite person on the planet, and she's not on the planet anymore. So many times I've missed our simple phone calls to say, "Hey, what are you up to?" So many times I've been struggling with a decision or an idea and just needed her never-ending wisdom to help me through. It's funny, I used to think it was not a big deal how close we were. Lots of people had that relationship with their moms, right? Wrong. After she died, so many people told me they wished they could have half the relationship with their mom that I had with mine. 

I'd give anything to be able to have dinner with her again. Just one more time even. Not because I need any profound advice from her, or need her to tell me she's proud of me (although I would love both), but because I miss her presence. I miss her laugh and her ability to just hang out. I'd give anything for a good old fashioned weekend dinner on her back deck full of fresh veggies she grew herself, while she laughed and spoke in her calming deeper-toned voice. But yes, I'd give anything to have dinner with her again. I'd even give up dinner with Aldous Huxley and Sara Bareilles. 

Who would you have dinner with and why? 

Want to see more? Never miss a post by filling out the "Subscribe" section on the right.
Don't forget to follow The Joy Blog on Facebook & Bloglovin'!

SaveSave