Friday I said that it is what you make of it and I’m doing my damndest to enjoy as many of the seconds as I can. To quote that old Will Smith song, “I’m livin’ lovin’, lovin’ livin’—it’s all good.” (Admittedly, having fun over the weekend is a lot easier than during the work week.)
It’s the little things.
Because they are the big ones.
Music. Friendship. Love.
There’s more than music, friendship, and love that’s important to me (obviously, I hope), but I only had five syllables to convey the point and picking them was pretty easy. (TBH, I typed “family” instead of “friendship” at first but then got myself all worked up about whether it was two syllables (as pronounced) or three (which I think is technically accurate) so I swapped it out for an equally important word to ensure the structural integrity of the Maiku and here we are.) Anyhow, I feel extremely fortunate in that regard, in that I’ve always had such extreme clarity about the things that matter most to me, to know what I need to keep my head clear, my heart full, and my soul strong. Despite knowing those things beyond any doubt reasonable or unreasonable, navigating through this crazy thing called life hasn’t always been easy in some ways—like when I step outside of myself into a material world more obsessed with titles and status and stuff, a world that’s not necessarily for me. Never has been. It kind of took a long time to come to terms with and be ok with it, my place and space relative to and in that world, but now that I am, I’m all set. That’s probably the big reason why this new remote work experience has been so good for me; physically removing myself from the very real pressures of very false ideals, things that once were stressors for me and that ultimately became annoyances of the highest exponential order, no longer weigh me down to any extent. To say that that realization and its associated relief is liberating is a colossal understatement.
Moving right along, if you were here on Friday, you know that we were heading down to Gillette to see Kenny Chesney in concert, with tickets we bought in 2020…after waiting all those years, when the day finally came we were like a bunch of horses in the starting stall anxious to run The Derby. The day started out as a gorgeous-but-humid one, but the forecast all week had been dodgy—either way, it was outside of our control. We made it into the parking lot no problem but it was clear from the get-go that something wicked this was was coming.
After a summer of drought, with week after week of gruelingly hot and arid weather, the lighting struck, the thunder boomed, the wind whipped, and the heavens opened in a very not heavenly fashion…but when life hands you lemons you pile back into your cars and make the best of it. Which we did. After an hour that felt like forever (time ticks really slowly when you’re crammed in a hot car and can’t open the windows or get a lick of air), the worst of it (high winds and lightning right on top of us) had passed through so my cousin’s friend put up his tent, his wife handed out the ponchos that she forgot to bring to Disney World, and we were right back to it.
It still wasn’t clear when or if the show would go on, but all we—and everyone else—could do was wait it out with as much enjoyment as we could. So we did, and with gusto. At about 6 they announced the gates had re-opened and at about 7 we made our way into the stadium. The rain had cooled things down quite nicely and as soon as we took our wet seats (which at that point was a bit redundant as our seats were already pretty wet 😂😂😂) it was clear that The Universe had righted itself and we were in for a fantastic and fun night. Old Dominion was great, Dan + Shay were better than expected (their set was acoustic, bonus!), and Kenny Chesney pulled out all the stops. One great thing about Kenny are the fun, happy, hopeful lyrics that he sings. “Leave our worries behind we don’t need ‘em.” “Here and now. Nowhere else in this world tonight…better get to livin ‘cause all we got is here and now.” “Who gets to live like we do? We do!” And these words, repeated in the song Get Along:
Get along, on down the road
We've got a long, long way to go
Scared to live, scared to die
We ain't perfect but we try
Get along while we can
Always give love the upper hand
Paint a wall, learn to dance
Call your mom, buy a boat
Drink a beer, sing a song
Make a friend, can't we all get along
One (of many) highlights besides being surrounded by what matters most to me, was the song Kenny played with OD maybe 2/3 into his set, a new (to them) song that had just dropped that day, Beer With My Friends.
It seems the perfect summation of the night, a tribute to the importance and value of the social communion that I (and maybe all of us) crave and need. Time with my friends, bound by love, tunes cranking (or not), cold beer in my hand (or not), well, I’ll pick that 100 times out of 100. It’s so important to actively realize this, to be mindful of things that matter, and to be explicit about the positive impact they have on your life. For instance I was reminded that my sister’s smile is a physical manifestation of her positive outlook, her joie de vivre…her smile captures every ounce of her amazing spirit. I thought about the notion of blood being thicker than water, and while we had both in ample supply, I think the thickness of liquid is immaterial. Family who are friends are one of life’s great bonuses, sure, but the real beauty is found in the relationships made of love on many levels, those relationships where love is all that matters for the sole reason that the love is all that matters. No obligation. No salvation. Just love. I have a lot of that in my life and it makes my heart happy. As I think of these feelings, and these people who bring them out in me, well, with all the talk of the US Open and Serena’s retirement I recall the powerful words Venus Williams once spoke after being defeated by Serena in a final match: “Your win will always be my win.” Read that again. “Your win will always be my win.” When you surround yourself with people you feel this way about, who feel this for you, well, what more do you need?
Current Crayola 64 mood: Yellow Orange, representing happiness and friendship.
One story before I go. This week (Sunday, September 4) will mark eight years for me without the steady soulful presence of my personal superhero, eight years without a living dad. At this time back then, we knew the end was near, but we had no idea what the coming weeks would bring. Anyway, the story I’m about to tell, well, it probably took place sometime in late July. I think it was a Sunday morning, when I looked out the window over the kitchen sink and saw something that I hadn’t seen before or since. I was able to get lots of pictures of it, and when I brought the pictures over to show my dad, he was mind blown. A nature guy all his life, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I’ve never seen anything like that. Hawks don’t swim.” I think there were four of them in all and they turned the pool into a giant birdbath. They stuck around for awhile too, swimming then sunning and drying off.
After he died, I quickly came to believe that the backyard hawk pool party was a sign from The Universe, a sign that the hawks had been sent to let me know that my dad was about to fly and, I like to think, go do impossible things.
My dad and I had spent a lot of time in my yard, working on the garden, cutting down trees, fixing broken fences, opening and closing the pool, and since he died I feel especially close to him back there. I close my eyes and I can see him, and feel him. I spend a lot of solo, quiet time back there, and while all the time I spend in the yard isn’t spent thinking of him, it always sets me right. Go figure.
So yesterday when I was sitting out and reading, it made me happy to see a hawk land atop his favorite tree, the giant sycamore that he thought was so beautiful. Then it swooped down and landed on the roof of the house, as if he wanted to be sure I knew he was there to check in on things…which gave me a moment of extreme peace, a big smile, and leaky eyes. I like to think when he was sitting up on the roof looking around and taking stock of things, he felt every good vibe that lives here.
Moral of the story? Believe in signs and don’t forget to look up.
And you know what else didn’t hurt? Getting sent a link to a playlist from my music soulmate in the middle of it all. Not sure if it was sheer coincidence or another power play by The Universe, but the playlist was titled “Happy days.” And the tunes were sublime. Split between songs I already love and songs I had never heard before but love now.
Right? My heart is so full.
Hope you had a great weekend, and that a great week awaits—long weekend ahead, so enjoy the informal end of summer (oy). I appreciate you and your being here with me—your win is my win.
Love you too.
Catch you next time!