Getting What You Want

Since this post is inspired by a song, and an experience, I’ve linked you to the song in case you want to listen to it while you read.  I listened while I wrote it.  And by the way, this video is the actual experience I had, because I was at Jazzfest, listening to this live, probably somewhere about 20-30 feet to the right of whoever video’d this.

Anyway.

I was supposed to be in New Orleans this weekend at Jazzfest.  I went for the first time last year with a big group of friends and IT.WAS.AMAZING.  I mean, New Orleans alone is just a sumptuous, wild place as is, but then you cram in a bunch of amazing musicians in a huge field and jazz being played in dark bars and you have a hell of an experience.  So I was SO EXCITED to go this year.

Well, you know what’s coming.

As you might expect, I am not there.  I am in my house, as I have been for about the past five weeks.  And my friends are all homebound too, in their respective places.  With a desire to see each other and have a little bit of Jazzfest still be alive for us, we set up a Zoom listening party and we all dialed in.  The hosts played some jazz for a while, then we would stop and everyone would chat.  People shared pictures and we told stories from our adventures last year.  Of course, it was not the same as being there, but it was just about the next best thing.

There is so much that’s hard about the way things are right now.  AND, there is so much that is still light and joyful and happy and gentle.  Even under the weight of disappointment of missing the festival and longing for friends who aren’t nearby, there was a lightness to our little Zoom party.  Hearing their laughs through the computer and watching these clips, I could almost feel the warm breeze across that festival field and imagine myself right there in the middle of it all.

This post is dedicated lovingly to my badass Jazzfest crew who would be burning it at both ends if we were there right now!

“You can’t always get what you want.  But if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.”

The Jazzfest crew (minus 2) in 2019!