Friendship is Magic
My Little Pony and Ninjago taught the Nelson family that your true true friends help you reach your true potential.
I missed you all last week. I was a mess. Head cold, severe body aches, sinus pressure. It was very unpleasant. I was super stressed thinking it was Covid. So I messaged my doctor through MyChart asking to schedule a test, just to make sure because I’m traveling to Denver for work this week. I was going to tell you about the whole experience, but it was super dumb and not worth boring you. Instead I’ll tell you about what happened this past weekend. Two friends from different eras made me smile and warmed my soul. One a wrestler, the other a musician.
On Saturday, my friend Travis debuted in his professional wrestling career as Travesty. Watch his promo. He’s rad. The venue was in South Bend. We loaded up the van with a bunch a friends and set out to support him. Many friends showed up to cheer him on. We all wore Travesty shirts that Chuck made for the event. It was so awesome to feel all the love and support that was there not only Travis, but for all the wrestlers. The fans were passionate and a good time was had by all.
As I may, or may not, have mentioned before, one of my favorite things to experience in life is watching people when they are clearly In The Zone. Whether it’s a wrestler, a bartender, a chef, baseball player, whatever — when someone is on fire, you feel that energy. It’s a beautiful thing and I’m here for it. Travesty was in the zone! It was dope. His next show is October 2. Let me know if you wanna go. Tickets will go fast.
Having experienced so much fun on Saturday (despite the fact that my kids were miserable from the fallout of their second Covid shots — HUGE shout out to Grandma Gigi for taking care of them so that I could go to the show), I had planned to just take it easy and hang with the family on Sunday, which I mostly did. Unexpectedly, our friend Marshal dropped by. He’s an amazing musician. He saw Hank’s guitars and his face just lit up. He and Hank talked guitars for a bit and then Marshal spotted my new drum set. At that moment I was so thankful that my friend Justin had helped us set the drums up for success. [For those who missed it, Im learning to play the drums!] He asked if he could play, to which I said, “Yes, PLEASE!”
He sat down and began to play. Hank grabbed a guitar and amped up. They started to jam. I was so moved. Seriously, the joy spilling from my being was nearly overwhelming. Here in my living room was a friend I’ve known for almost 30 years with my 13 year old son creating beautiful music together spontaneously. Talk about being in the zone. That’s where I wanna get. To be able to just FEEL the music and play rather than breaking it down technically, counting, reading sheet music. Making it a chore rather than a release of creative energy. I’ll get there.
As I reflect on the weekend, I realize I have incredible friends and family. Not just those mentioned here, but so many others, who make the world a better place to be just because they exist. I love you all. And as I often do, I’ll close with a quote, this time from the genius, Kurt Vonnegut. “And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’”