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Looking Back, 2018, Turn the Page
Posted on December 27, 2018
It is hard to express the humility I feel thinking back on 2018. From Honolulu to Cape Cod; from South Dakota to New Orleans, I got to crisscross this beautiful country talking about my passion and meeting some fantastic new friends. I think somewhere along the line, I published my second book and recorded over 50 hours of the Trauma-Informed Lens Podcast!
A song from my youth has found its way back on my travel playlist. One of the first songs I memorized word for word was Bob Seger’s Turn the Page (though Metallica’s cover is my current favorite). The song is about a performer who finds meaning on the road through the exhaustion and ups and downs of traveling around the country performing.
Out there in the spotlight, you’re a million miles away
Every ounce of energy you try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play
Turn the Page brings forth something powerful for anyone who hits the “road” to follow their passion, trying to make a small difference in the world. There are so many lessons you learn about yourself, the country, and the places you visit when you take a moment to reflect on all the different people, experiences, issues, and culture travel allows you to experience.
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers ringin’ in your head
Sometimes it is hard to pack the suitcase (or more accurately repack it!) again for yet another trip to the airport. Then something magical happens before I step foot on the flight. I start to think about how lucky I am that people want to fly me to their community to talk about my passion. By the time I “take the stage,” I am overwhelmed by gratitude and excitement. It is fun to rediscover yourself over and over, in different cities, in various time zones, reflected in the eyes of your audience.
Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playing the star again
There I go
Turn the page
It’s good that you recall your purpose with the doing, in the action of it. Some lose it, or fail to remember the motivation and the reason, and then get lost. Others find that core in the loved ones back home. Walking into the house may remind one of the foundation of one’s life. A partner will be the one to remind you that your other roles and responsibilities await: come back to reality. In the nineteen-seventies, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. sang “You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in my show.” At home, baby, you are my star, too, but it’s time to put out the garbage and change the diapers. Therein–in that house, or on that walk with your partner–may lie the check and balance of life. Those who love us may call us on our forgetfulness, or may encourage us in our waning. We can be grateful for them, especially, in those moments.
For those of us without a partner–apparently, not a negligible number–other forms or aspects of community will help. I find, too, that reading is an aid, in that respect. Books, we know, bring the lives of others to us, to teach us of alternative opportunities and choices for our lives.
Love your wisdom, my friend! And as always, your taste in music is right on!!!
Perfect analogy for 2018 reflection. As always, spot on and thoughtful.
Thanks so much my friend!