Somewhere in there, I heard of a thing that has really helped me out. Every day, I think of a person that has been a positive influence in my life, or has had a positive impact on my life, and I think about how grateful I am for that person. Some of these I've written down; others I organize in my head and leave it at that. (For some reason, I've gotten in the habit of doing this in the shower every morning.)
Don't remember what the specific outcome of this was supposed to be (I was pretty damn skeptical about it, to be honest). But so what? It's been a great exercise, and along the way I've figured out that I'm either truly blessed or lucky as hell -- because I've bumped into some outstanding people in my 43 years on this mudball.
Sprinkled among all the family members, mentors and friends have been artists, writers, musicians, Randolph Scott and even a hot rod builder or two. Today, I am truly thankful for Mr. Brian Wilson.
Why? Well, I could just say, "Go listen to 'Surf's Up' on the Beach Boys bootleg of your choice." Or I could tell you that one of my goals as a parent is to take my daughter to see Brian perform. Or I could point to the beautiful painting of Brian my good friend Tomas Gardner painted for me.
But, really, it's this. Brian went way, way out there -- to the very farrest-away edge -- to create some incredible music for us all. Sometimes it was really, really hard for him to come back for that edge.
We should all learn something from his story.
But maybe most important, we should all just dig his music.
2 comments:
Heartfelt!
P.S. THIS!
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