Adventures HO!!!!
Well, life sometimes gives us unplanned adventures. I love spontaneous adventures, don’t you? Out of the blue, I commented on someone’s status on Facebook today, and, before I knew it, my whole night changed. Didn’t matter that I had buffalo chicken in the crock pot. In fact, that was as stroke of genius because it meant I didn’t need to cook dinner, ergo I was free for adventure.
What adventure, you ask? Well, a friend had made plans some months ago with another friend of hers to attend a concert in Nashville. Yes, the Nashville that was three hours away. The text came at like 3:00. “Let’s do it.” Oookay…so off we (me and my massage therapist that is) go to Nashville. To see the Nashville Symphony play in the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The venue was perfect. Beautiful, intimate, something I never would have been able to afford myself. I would never have thought to do something so extravagant. But, someone else did, and then couldn’t go and so, I got to go in their place.
It was a sold out One Night Only performance. The Nashville Symphony, which the locals are VERY proud of and rightly so, were WONDERFUL. It was awesome in fact. A beautiful but hot night, when they would normally have been performing OUTDOORS! Let me tell you, the performers were VERY grateful they said, to be performing indoors. From the first notes we heard as we were passing the backstage area while the symphony was warming up, to the last notes that faded away into that pregnant silence just before the audience exhales in satisfaction, it was perfect.
It seems that I am continually enjoying myself at someone else’s expense. But then it also seems that I am also continually putting my life on hold for someone else. From the time I became an adult, it seems that stuff happening in other people’s lives was continually affecting my ability to live mine. Believe me, I could list a mountain of events that occurred just before I was about to do this or that perfect plan for my life. For instance there’s a felon in a prison in VA that fucked up her life and because she fucked up her life, MY life was changed forever by the arrival of two young boys that had been raised to hate my guts because I am a Witch. THAT has been an adventure too. That’s just the biggest pile of dominos to fall in recent years, there’s hundreds of others. But I digress.
Fate conspired to give me a break for once and I got to have a good time for no other reason than someone thought of me when their other good friend was out of pocket. I’m really sorry that their original plan was ruined and she didn’t get to go. I know she’d planned it for a long time. The thing is, I don’t even know the woman. But our mutual friend grabbed me by the hand and dragged me to Nashville for a wonderful evening. We didn’t get home until well after two the next morning, which was Friday…and though she was off, I had to work. Boy that was a doozy to get through. But it was so worth it. Songs that brought vignettes of my life back to me, memories, some good, some painful, all cathartic. The artist doesn’t really do happy upbeat stuff. In fact it was mentioned more than once that the soulful, deep, visceral experience of songwriting was their hallmark. Then, presumably to showcase talent in the band, but more likely to give them a bit of a break, the artist yielded the stage to a man and woman who normally only see the reflection of the spotlight. I found that humble gesture very touching. It’s not often than an artist of amazing talent also has an amazing capacity for humility. It make the performance that much more enjoyable. An honest, heartfelt voice, with perfect pitch, excellent control and as it was put before, ‘visceral’ lyrics and music. It was immensely satisfying.
Okay, okay…who was it you ask? Come on, I’m enjoying teasing you. If you are on my Facebook flist, you already know. But I’ll give you a hint. This photo, outside the Symphony Center….is the title of one of the songs. Oh yeah, the artist is female.
Here’s the venue:
Beautiful isn’t it? So intimate and the acoustics were amazing. Have you guessed?
Okay, okay…here’s a pic of the ticket…
That’s right. Sarah McLachlan. I was lucky. I was honored. And I am profoundly grateful that a friend thought of me when the opportunity presented itself. As long as life continues to give me respites like this, so much of the other shit that I have to deal with can be endured. When I need it, the Universe provides. I don’t need any further proof that I am doing something right, even if I don’t know what it is. So here is to unplanned adventures!