Live Your Dream

A lot of people I’ve come across say that living your dreams are sometimes that…dreams. Fantasy even.

I’m proud to say that I lived my dreams seven years ago today.

See the screencap used as the cover photo for this article? At approximately 7:00 PM seven years ago today, I walked through the entranceway and stood there for a few beats with “King of Fools” by Edguy playing.

Standing there, I took it all in.

I never accomplished anything major until that day. Always talking about it, discussing it, and wondering about it. Looking into a room that was still filling up, I couldn’t believe this actually came to fruition.

And I didn’t do it alone. Brian Belzer, a friend I met through EBTV in East Brunswick, NJ, handled the production so on the fly and selflessly, as well as investing money. Truly, that man is the wizard. Men like Nick Reigota and Nick Facchini doing the same. Countless performers donating their time to film vignettes, as well as helping promote the event and putting their bodies on the line.

Gazing for a moment, I harkened back to a time when I was told that “I wouldn’t make it far in the business because I was too nice.” I vividly remember standing there and taking that in and realizing that being kind and genuine helped me pull this off.

Everything leading up to this night and probably the immediate aftermath following it was probably the most painful experience I’d ever have to go through, professionally and personally. Looking back now, I’ve never been more proud of this night. I got to work with the people I wanted to work with and people I trusted most. 

When it comes to living your dreams, whatever it may be, just do it. If you have to look back years later and think “What If?”, you missed a major moment. For everything that I do ask “What If?” towards, this isn’t one of them.

I used to think this was my peak: it was my true beginning.

Happy birthday, Project: Diverge. Thank you for letting me live my dream.

Jon Harder

Jon@HardwayHQ.com 

To watch the entire Project: Diverge saga, click on this link here: https://www.youtube.com/@projectdivergepro