A blessing and a curse

I scored tickets to a concert the other day. John Mayer is one of my favorite artists. He happens to be a fabulous entertainer. Every musician performs, but they don’t all ENTERTAIN. You can go to a concert and watch a band or a person play their music, and do it well, but they don’t all entertain. A true entertainer will engage the audience, cares about the people in front of them and the ones in the far back, they will take a chance and wander off the path of their usual boring stuff, and take an adventure, inviting their audience to come along. A fabulous journey. John Mayer is such an entertainer. He’s witty, funny, considerate and talented beyond measure. I could watch him play guitar for hours. When he plays, you can see him BECOME the guitar, the guitar becomes him. It’s like the music seeps out of his pores and beams all around him like glowing rays of sunlight. Other people may not like his songs, label them as girly music, or too soft, or too pop, but you really haven’t experienced what a talented musician he is until you’ve seen him play.

As I was sitting in probably the best seats I’ve ever had at a concert, I was far enough in front to be able to turn back and look out at the sea of faces. When the spotlights were out on the crows I could turn around and almost get a feeling for what it must be like being up there with thousands of people smiling and moving to the music. I am talentless, so there is no way I could ever really experience that, of course. But that got me to thinking…yeah, I know, ME think!?!? LOL There was an ocean of people simultaneously happy, enjoying life, savoring moments in that amphitheater that night, all there to see this one person, who is lucky enough to do what he loves, touch people's souls, and get paid a lot of money for it. What a blessing that must be. It is a blessing, but it’s also a curse.

I’ve followed John Mayer on twitter and facebook for some time. I really enjoy reading his posts. While many of his posts are silly, it does give you insight into his mind. He’s a very intelligent person, and silly too. I love that. He thinks of things that are so off the beaten path that you’re like how the HELL did he come up with THAT! He’s also mentioned things about his life that the rest of us probably wouldn’t think of. The price of being an entertainer is you’re on the road all the time. Living out of a suitcase, waking up in different hotels all the time. Aside from playing venues, there’s a lot of travel involved promoting your music, collaborating your creations, etc. and the sleeplessness. As an artist, when you go out there on stage, it’s a high, a rush, a wild ride. When you finish and the audience goes home, you can’t just turn that off, you have to let it wind itself down. And, aside from the other musicians who play with you, you’re all alone in the wee hours of the night, ringing ears and all, just waiting to come down. I can relate to the sleeplessness. Everyone else is comfortably in dreamland, it’s a quiet loneliness. Also a price of fame, your entire life is scrutinized, and it’s next to impossible to find someone who can accept and tolerate the lifestyle, the long distance relationship, the hours, the demands of a musician. Yes, some of them contributed to the demise of their relationships, but think about it, it’s almost a set up for failure from the beginning. Then there’s the lack of privacy, and the complete judgment by the general public. Paparazzi following you, quotes being taken out of context, and everything you say gets dissected and scrutinized. Granted, sometimes they say things they deserved to be called out on, but imagine how awful it must feel to have SO MANY people voicing their opinion of you. And last, but not least, the perks of fame, and the money, has to be an issue when you assess the people around you, to protect yourself from being taken advantage of.

The price of fame is steep, it’s a blessing and a curse. Just about everything in life comes with a price, or a curse, some small and insignificant, some much more serious. Sharing your love for animals and becoming a pet owner comes with the territory of commitment, clean up, and the cost of loving and losing, getting married, having a family limits your freedom and your finances, being a homeowner costs you time and maintenance, having a fantastic career can cost you a family or a delay in family. If all we did was think about the price of what we want out of life, we would never reach out for anything that we wanted. It’s what you do with the price, or how you allow the ‘curse’ to affect you that can increase or decrease the value of the blessing. Focus on the positive, don’t allow the downside that comes with that positive to pull you down, if the blessing you experienced was worth the effort, you can handle the downside. Eyes on the prize, and summon your inner strength to pull you through the rough stuff, and believe you are worthy of the blessing, have FAITH in yourself and the powers that be.


For you JM fans out there, here's a link to the pictures
PHOTOS