My mind doesn’t shut off. It just runs and runs and plans and lists and analyzes. It’s actually getting worse with age instead of better. It’s why I have a hard time falling asleep. Like that movie How Does She Do It All where she just lays there in be making lists.
One thing shuts my brain off.
Loud live music.
I love going to concerts but because of my nutty schedule, friends with fewer time on their hands, a limited “extras” budget, and the kids, I don’t do it very often.
However, my best friend always gets us tickets to see Better Than Ezra at House of Blues when they come through town. I’ve been going to BTE concerts since the mid-90s in law school in Nashville when they first hit. They’re from Baton Rouge and they played the HOB Friday night before the LSU game in Houston on Saturday. It was a zoo! An absolutely wonderful, loud, hysterical rockin’ zoo.
We got there just before they went on in our skinny(ish) jeans and high heels and dark eyeliner just like we’ve been dressing for concerts for ages. As the familiar music filled the room with drums shaking the floors and crowd belting out the lyrics, my brain turned off. All I could think or hear or feel was the music.
There was this moment when they started singing a song from their album which will release next week called It’s Gonna Get Better. Let me tell you, there’s something about shouting “It’s Gonna Get Better” with a room full of strangers. It’s been a hard couple of weeks and this was like medicine:
On this Labor Day, I’m grateful for a break from the labor and an opportunity to turn back the clock a couple of decades with my best friend.
Great post, Gindi! It’s important to devote time to those activities that allow us to “de-stress” (as long as they’re healthy/constructive, or at least not destructive), even when it seems like there’s not enough time for the things/obligations that elevate our stress. Thanks for reminding me how important that is, and for reminding me of good times I’ve had with good friends at good concerts.
Thanks Ben – yes, it was exactly what I needed and it reminded me how important that time having fun and being a kid is.