A puzzle

When I began talking to people about Mama T's (this home for girls/bakery of my dreams), I had several people ask me: "are you going to sell pies, or mentor young women?" My answer: "both, of course!" Why couldn't it be both? In my mind it all worked together as one completely interconnected organism.

Working in the middle of a restaurant/training program has now made me ask: "are you going to run a successful restaurant, or train and mentor at risk youth?" This puzzle is harder to put together than I anticipated, reminding me of the times we all sat down on a snowy holiday, thinking we'd pass a bit of spare time by puzzling. Several days later, the many stray puzzle pieces mocking us from their random positions about the table, we are forced to admit that we underestimated the task at hand. Is the puzzle impossible? No, but it takes significantly more time and focus than we bargained for.

Is Old Skool Cafe the complete puzzle? I think it's close, and I think it would be even closer if not for the growing pains it needs to get past first. Is it impossible to have the complete puzzle that Old Skool and I strive for? No, I don't think so. But it's not easy, and I'm glad I can observe the points of friction where the dual goals collide and clash. Actually, observe is a bit too distant: I have been thrown into the middle of the operation, told to fit these two gears together, and to make the machine go.

It is important to allow your dream to be put to the test.... When you can question the perfection of your own vision is when you allow it the opportunity to be perfected.