Brace Yourselves

Today is music day.

I have had two delicious musical experiences in the space of five days and my head and my heart are exploding.

Saw The Allman Brothers last night and they healed me.

They took me to a place of joy and wonder. They drained all the poison out of my system and allowed me to just be me.

I am not kidding about this.

I am warped right now. Filled to capacity with stress and anger and frustration and desperation. I don't know what to do or how to act or what to say. I have lost myself to a negative moment.

However, the music that I heard last night, the level of musicianship that I witnessed, the awe that I felt for this band that I have loved since I was fifteen years old - 1969 - blew out all the bad. Cleaned out my system.

I am serious. I feel calm today. I feel like the real me is out in the open. I feel comfortable.

I never feel comfortable.

This feels like an opportunity. An opportunity for me to use the power of my mind to think my way through to a better me.

With no distractions. No poison in my system.

Will this seed take hold? I don't know.

But my mind has been going through analysis lately. Self-analysis. My mind is struggling to make sense and provide relief and a road to travel.

Timing is everything.

I feel whole today because up until 8:30 last night I felt shattered.

Then The Allman Brothers Band stepped onto that stage. They grabbed a hold of my fragile psyche and my battered soul and nursed them back to health. Made them better than they they have been in six months.

I left Carol a note before leaving for the concert last night. I told her something I never told her before.

I call it The Carol Moment. It has happened to me many times at Allman Brothers concerts. They blast away the evil that is inside of me and replace it with exquisite beauty and intense emotion.

Suddenly during a song I will think of Carol with sheer happiness. The band will be wailing, I will have been transported to a new and better existence and I will think of Carol with tears in my eyes. This is because they strip away all my bullshit and allow me to see my life as it truly is.

Last night it was "One Way Out." They took that song that I have heard in concert 1 million times, and they made it something new with ferocious intensity, an extended drum solo and mind blowing musical sensuousness.

That is what talented bands do. They don't just spit back the same old stuff over and over. They re-create it, improve upon it and surprise and amaze you time after time.

Right in the middle of all that sound and emotion, Carol popped into my head and there were indeed tears in my eyes.

The Allman Brothers bring me back to myself and challenge me to build something as amazing as the band they have built.

I feel great today. I feel potential. My mind is crackling alive.

I love my beautiful wife, my amazing sons, their magical women and my incredible brother.

It ain't just music, baby.