Still processing

Some events move me enough that I take a long time to process them. I'm still working through all of my thoughts and feelings about TED, for example--though I learned yesterday that I didn't make the cut for the 2009 main conference. (I'm still hoping to attend a satellite, should they have one again.) Last night's concert was another such event.

Several things in the show affected me deeply.

The music, of course, is a big one. I love most of Springsteen's songs, and many of them would make my desert island top 100 list, were I to have one. A lot of his songs tell stories of poor, trapped people trying alternately to make the best of what they have or to get away from it all, and those tunes resonate with my childhood and teen memories. Others--and many of that first group, of course--rage at injustice, and I have related to them since I first heard them.

It's not just the music, however. His joy in performing touches me, as does the show's undeniable energy. I also respect and admire the fact that the same band has been together for so long; I aspire to do as well by my closest friends. In addition, he strikes me as an entirely decent and admirable man, someone who's become rich while never forgetting for a moment that most people aren't.

He also makes me want to be a better writer. If my work brought anyone as much joy as his provides to me, I'd be honored and thrilled.

As I said in the title, I'm still processing it all. I wish you could have been there to enjoy it with me.