I woke up this morning to a message from my favorite singer sitting in my email inbox. Oh, it's a message of hope, faith, and prayer. That's nice.
Steady by faith, calmed by song, healed by prayer.
Oh, I believe. Damn right I believe.
I believe these halls will roar again. These stadiums will be deafening. The silence of now will cower at the noise of soon.
When the question of 'Who will answer this call?' is asked, thousands will raise their firsts and say, "I will. We will."
And we damn sure will.
And, oh, there's a new song at the end of the video!
Best surprise ever.
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Music means a lot to me, as you might have noticed if you know me in person or if you read thishereblog.
I was raised by two people who took me to Alan Jackson and George Strait concerts when I was growing up.
In my adult life, when I had surgery one day, the same day that Alan Jackson was in town, those two wonderful people went and watched AJ perform.
Ha, ha. I love it. I was so mad at them for having fun when I was in pain. (I love that memory now, because I would have done the same thing in their shoes.)
I've been talking about memories a lot with my family, which is kind of an interesting, maybe sweet, side effect of what's going on in the world right now.
My memories growing up are of going to concerts. It's just who I am and it's in my blood.
I went to my fair share of concerts in college. I went to my college town's bluegrass festival when I lived there. I've been known to suggest concerts as dates (Jerrod Niemann and Lanco, both of which were fantastic shows).
In my adult life, especially over the past few years, I've found that music is how I heal. Every time I'm heartbroken, I turn to music to get over it.
I'm a pretty big believer that if something bad happens, then something good happens, too.
There is no other feeling in the world that feels like a concert. There is no other feeling that describes being in a moment so magical that thousands of people (sometimes 56,000 people) are rejoicing right along with you.
There's an energy in the air that is unlike anything I've ever experienced.
I went to eight concerts last year and explored several new cities. I lost my car in an NFL stadium parking lot after a concert 900 miles away from home at 1 a.m. (I found my car and lived, if you were wondering.)
I met new people. I let go of old people. I laughed at a dude dressed like a priest who was drunkingly dancing in the aisles at Eric Church's Nashville show last year. (The priest went to church. I can't get mad at him about that.)
I went to a concert with my best friend last year, and we saw our favorite childhood band. (Her: Monica, I just paid for you to look at Taylor Hanson for 2 hours. Me: Money well spent.)
I was front row for a concert the same week as my birthday (alongside my parents) that damaged our hearing for a few days after. The next day, when my family went to see Endgame in the theater, I heard about half of the movie. The other half I spent nudging my brother and saying, "What did that guy say?"
Bad things happen all the time. I believe you've got to go through the bad stuff to get to the good stuff.
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| And mustard on my fries. |
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The thing about the 'lasts' in life? When that moment is happening, you have no way of knowing that it's a last time you'd experience it.
Had I known that I wouldn't see my nieces for a few weeks the last time I saw them, I would have hugged them a little harder.
Had I known that having lunch with a friend would eventually become a social distancing lunch six feet apart, I would have hung out with my friends a little more often.
Had I known that the entire world would change this year, I would have done a lot of things different.
But in the moment, you don't know. You have no way of knowing.
Right now all I know is that eventually, I will go to concerts again. I will cherish that concert beer a little more, and I'll be a little kinder to the person sitting next to me.
Right now I don't really know what I know, except that I was raised to keep going through the bad stuff. I know that eventually, there will be good.
And for the love of all things holy, a certain singer releasing a new album this year would be spectacular.
Just saying.
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I believe the best is yet to come. We shall rage. We shall roar.
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