Live in concert

So, I went to the Superchic[k] and Pillar concert last night (part of the Shoutfest festival that came to our town). I really like Superchick (I know, you are like, what? How old are you?) I know they sing/play for high school students, but I really like them. I like their lyrics, they are simple and true. And they speak to anybody's struggles and concerns (wanting to be liked, loved, accepted, wanting to make the right choice despite peer pressure, etc.). One of my favorite songs is One and Lonely. The chorus goes at first like this "Sometimes I have good days and it is good to be me, sometimes I get the best of insecurity, and it is quite all right to be the one and only, but today I feel like the one and lonely..." and then it goes on to say, at the end "And today I choose to be the one and ONLY" :) I know, very simple, but in that simplicity lies how I feel from day to day...yes, even years past high school!! (I bought a mini-poster of the band so I could have an excuse to go up and tell them I was one of their 'older' fans!) After Superchick, Pillar played, a heavy rock band that has been around for 10 years now and Jon really enjoys. I enjoyed it too, though I didn't know many of the songs. (I did sing loud and as clear as I could to the chorus and most of the verses of "Stand in the Rain" of Superchick :).
I had a blast, I just jumped up and down and rocked out loud! I did not realized how much I love live concerts and this one didn't have a huge crowd. They make me come alive. It is a great excuse to dance my heart, move to the beat, clap out loud, jump up and down like a maniac. Just be real silly! I felt so alive and young again....probably looked just like all the teenagers around me! I got a great workout for sure, and it felt good. A friend wrote recently that it was good for her to 'lighten up'. Her context is way more serious than mine, but I understand even better what she means now. When we lighten up, we can be ourselves. I told Jon last night that a few years ago I wouldn't have felt free to do what I wanted. To jump up and down even if no one else was (Yep, sometimes I did things on my own, even if I saw no one in the crowd doing it). Maybe we were a smaller crowd, in my town, or maybe it is that as I grow older I see that I don't have to have approval, I don't ave to wait for others to do what I feel in me. To do what is right. To be myself and do good. I noticed I was the only one who would raise my hands to clap, and I kept doing it. Years ago I would fear people would think I was stupid or something. Yesterday I just had a good time! I wouldn't miss an opportunity to be a little wild, have fun and DANCE! (I do do it at home with my little one from time to time, but he is so funny when he does his little dance I get distracted and just start laughing! But I need to do it more as he grows)

Jon took a few photos with his cell phone, and maybe I'll get to post them soon.

The best part was on our way back to the car, my almost 15 year-old sister-in-law told me she saw me beside her and was so proud of me being her sis-in-law...watching me dance and jump, being 'live in concert! woohoo! I hope I get to do it well in to my 60s and 70s!

Some things I enjoy and you might too

Movies: I watched Sweet Land fairly recently and I truly enjoyed it. It was a delicious taste of cinematography, especially as far as the setting of the play and the slow rhythm of individual scenes. (Yes, I am trying to be just as pretty in describing it:). If you are a action movie fanatic than you probably won't enjoy this movie very much!

Books: I also really enjoyed Donald Miller's book "Blue Like Jazz." Here is what he says at the beginning of the book:

I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. But I was outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland one night when I saw a man playing the saxopho9ne. I stood there for fifteen minutes, and he never opened his eyes. After that I liked jazz music. Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way. I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened.

My favorite chapters were on Confession, Community, the two on Love (How to really Love Yourself and How to really Love Others) and the one on Money. This 'non-religious book on Christian spirituality' was a breath of fresh air after reading the same cliches too many times.

Music: Check out my hubby's teenage crush, Leigh Nash. He really had a good taste and a good "ear". I believe some of her latest songs have really shown how much she has matured vocally and as an artist. I really like her song "My idea of Heaven." (pls note: it is a 'romantic' one.)

Blogging: I want to invite you to read a blog I have enjoyed reading the past several months. Dr. Beck's Experimental Theology blog challenges my thinking about faith and how I live it. The author is a psychology professor, so he writes about psychological and behavioral issues and uses terms that are scientific, but he explains his ideas so clearly and by presenting these issues he really helps me digg deeper into broader aspects of life that affect me and the people I interact with. His last posts deal with the things we do everyday that are tantamount to sin and evil in this world. I identified some struggles in my own young and adult life in his post on conformity, and you should especially read his last post on being in a hurry! I really needed to reconfirm this idea that most of my stress, as well as many other's, boils down to being in a hurry, and not being able to do what would give us, others and God most joy.