I go to concerts.
A lot of them.
Well, more than the average person, it seems. Up until a few years ago, I’d only been to one other concert in my life, not counting the many classical/jazz concerts I’ve attended through the years in my music days. And then, my husband and I realized that we live only about 15 minutes from a world class venue that brings in famous acts all the time. Couldn’t we spare a 15 minute drive to hear these people we’ve been listening to on the radio forever? (Yes, I know, it’s also about money, but that’s another story.) And ever since, we’ve gone to concerts.
We’ve seen Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sigur Ros, and Blue Rodeo. And this year, we’ve started again with Broooooooce (you’ll know what that means if you’ve ever been to a Springsteen concert), and we’re gearing up for another HUGE one in the fall. I can’t wait.
I mentioned that I hate to travel, so the Springsteen concert was waaaay outside of my comfort zone this time. We took the train to avoid bad February weather, booked a nice little hotel close to the venue, and shipped ourselves off for two days in Toronto. Luckily, it was all something I felt slightly more at ease with, since my library conferences take place in the same area. In a way, I was the “expert” on this trip, and it made a big difference.
And do you know what I did? Is it the Creativity Course making me go outside my comfort zone, or was I just feeling a little brave that day? Who knows, but I went up the CN TOWER!! People, this thing has an elevator with one wall of windows and glass cutouts in the floor–because why wouldn’t you want to see how fast you’re zooming up the side of a massively tall building?? And once we got to the top, there was an outdoor platform (because, once again, we needed to experience the top of the world with WIND, right?), and a large glass floor area that almost no one was brave enough to walk on. Being up there wasn’t as bad as I thought, except when my husband wanted me to take a selfie with him outside, with my BACK TO THE WIRE FENCE!! Um, no thank you. Thankfully, we went to Ripley’s Aquarium right after to lower my blood pressure. I love fish!
But I was brave, and I did it, and it made me feel great. Not that it’s going to change my life and have me start doing daredevil things, like buying myself a hat (oh, wait, I already did that, too). Anyway, it was good. Let’s leave it at that.
And the concert was well worth it. Even sitting behind Bruce’s biggest superfan who, thank goodness got tickets because that guy deserved them, and making the short walk to and from in potential record rainfall which didn’t even happen. The crowd was alive. Bruce and the ESB were sounding great. And we enjoyed every minute of it.
My life will go back to normal for a while, and I like it that way. But it’s nice to have memories that are outside of the day to day. Now, I can’t wait until October.
