John Britton is a singer/songwriter living in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. For decades, he has worked as a writer in D.C.’s policy and regulatory arenas, with songwriting serving as his creative outlet. In April 2020, he launched Four Mile Run Productions as a means of pursuing dreams and releasing his music. Britton writes that, in all of life’s pursuits—and certainly in the pursuit of dreams and artistic endeavors—we encounter obstacles. The inevitable “brick walls.” I had the joy of knowing Randy Pausch at CMU before he wrote his NYT best-selling book, “The Last Lecture,” about achieving dreams. As he boldly battled pancreatic cancer, Randy wrote these interesting words that reflect his optimistic, can-do spirit: "The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough." John Britton is thankful to Randy for the encouragement to overcome the seemingly endless series of brick walls that have delayed his musical ventures. He also gives a huge shout out to Drs. Curt Thompson and Brené Brown for exposing and helping disarm the ubiquitous, debilitating mental obstacles of shame ("You'll never measure up!") and scarcity ("You don’t have enough/are not enough amid this highly talented, saturated scene!”).