Spiritual growth

The past year has been the most spiritual time in my life so far.  (For the record, I don't currently subscribe to any religion.)  I feel as though I've learned a lot.  For one thing, if you're in a state of concentration and talk to God, he may make his presence known.

I'd never had that before, but at an especially rocky time, I decided to address letters to God in my journal.  All I can say is that I got a particular sense of calm in the succeeding days that I had not experienced before.  It was a sense of calm that I perceived to be generated from outside myself.  I've always cherished time spent journaling and this is certainly another dimension for which to be grateful.

I've also always wanted to simplify--really for peace of mind.  I still have a ways to go on that, but I've gotten rid of a ton of books and plan to keep it up.  The less clutter around, the better I feel.  This is particularly apparent if you've moved as often as I have (whoa, I have this much stuff?).  I don't want to have a lot of things.  In fact, I want to have very few material possessions, which would help me on my spiritual journey.

I feel some sense of urgency to fulfill my purpose.  I don't know what that is but I am interested to find out.  I am confident about being in the right profession but what else should I do?  That is the mystery. Maybe it has to do with relationships with people I encounter?

My reading choices have reflected my deeper interest in spirituality.  I've read a ton of near-death experience accounts as well as books by Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra.

Importance of concerts

My favorite thing to do is go to concerts and summer is the best time for them.  There's something special about live music that you don't get from listening to a recording. It's an in-the-moment experience and it's exciting.  And the crowd is a big part of that.  Some of the best crowd experiences I've had have been at Wilco shows (my favorite currently active band).

There are the people you meet in lines or standing next to waiting for the show to start.  I've enjoyed meeting all of them.  There are a handful of people I've greeted at multiple shows, having recognized them from a prior show.  Then there is the crowd response to the performance of the songs.  There is an unspoken bond you have with the entire crowd and with the people standing around you and a unity that can be a really cool thing. There is nothing else like it.  Incidentally, I like that the definition of acting "in concert" is to act together and with a common plan.

My summer concerts this year:

Dave Matthews Band, Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT, 6-8

Wilco's Solid Sound Festival, Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA, 6-21 - 6-22

Cory Chisel, Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT, 6-30

Americanarama Festival with My Morning Jacket, Wilco, and Bob Dylan, Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, CT, 7-19

Beck, Bank of America Pavilion, Boston, MA, 8-2

A crowd photo I'm in from Wilco's first Solid Sound Festival, 2010