“Most of us have two lives. The life we reside, and the unlived life inside us.” ~Steven Pressfield
I used to be born a decade too late in 1975 in a small Pennsylvania city. By the point I used to be sufficiently old to purchase a report, the legendary rock and roll tradition of the Sixties and 70s was a distant reminiscence. To some, it may need even appeared uncool by then. However to me, a teen within the late 80s, the period of intercourse, medication, and rock and roll was every little thing.
I spent hours writing track lyrics in my flowered journal, watching MTV, and poring over Circus and Rolling Stonemagazines, making an attempt to catch glimpses of the private lives of my favourite rock stars. I strummed my guitar and pretended I used to be Janis Joplin. I used to be a dreamer, obsessive about poetry and music and the romantic notion of touring throughout the nation to see my favourite bands.
At twelve years outdated, I took a bus from my small city to Philadelphia to see the band Coronary heart. At fourteen, my mother and father drove me hours away to see Stevie Nicks. Then, in my late teenagers, I drove all the way in which to Ohio and Las Vegas, Nevada to see her once more. No distance ever appeared too far to journey for my favourite music.
Again then, I envisioned myself following bands and dwelling a carefree, hippie life-style the place my solely concern was attending to my favourite artist’s subsequent present. And most of all, I dreamed a couple of live performance at Crimson Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.
However by some means, by my early twenties, that dream felt out of attain. I met a person, bought married, and had a daughter. Our life was stuffed with routines that have been so totally different from the vagabond life I’d envisioned for myself. I traded spontaneity for self-discipline and gave up my goals of touring for the safety of a secure life and a home in an excellent neighborhood.
Finally, the duties of marriage, profession, and endless to-do lists made my dream of going to Crimson Rocks really feel an increasing number of like solely that—a dream.
And it went on like that for seventeen years. Then, after years of doing what I believed I used to be imagined to do, my husband and I made a decision to separate.
I launched into life as a single mother. And as I did, I mirrored on the final 20 years. We’d married younger and, on reflection, I noticed we most likely weren’t an excellent match. He was an actual property lawyer with a robust persona and even stronger opinions. I gave our marriage the most effective of me that I may, nevertheless it felt like I used to be all the time being who he needed me to be.
I had misplaced myself. I’d overlooked my very own hopes and ambitions. I’d by no means even made it to Crimson Rocks.
In 2016, newly single, I felt desperate to date once more, so I downloaded Bumble and arrange a profile. Not lengthy after, I matched with Jerry. He lived on the West Coast however was in my hometown of Philadelphia for a Lifeless and Co. live performance—the identical one I had tickets to.
Jerry had advised me he’d adopted the band as an adolescent, however he hadn’t stopped going to concert events like I had. He’d held onto his dream and seen them no less than 500 occasions. It was virtually like he’d lived the life I’d imagined for myself means again when. We gave the impression to be kindred spirits. However I had a sort, and that was somebody who was inside a fifteen-mile radius, so I made a decision to not meet up with Jerry on the live performance, regardless of being intrigued.
Jerry and I stored in contact over the subsequent 4 years, though I by no means held out any hope for something extra. He was a divorced man with kids, on a courting app; I assumed he’d meet any person near house, and I’d ultimately cease listening to from him. However to my shock, he reached out periodically, typically to speak about what was taking place on the earth of Grateful Lifeless concert events. It appeared he needed to remain on my radar. He was all the time well mannered and respectful, by no means creepy or pushy.
Jerry was ten years older than me, however by some means jogged my memory of my youthful self. He had a refreshingly youthful spirit, which was utterly totally different than any man I ever dated. Like me, he had a company job, however he didn’t let that cease him from following his band throughout the nation. Music was an enormous a part of his life, like mine.
We stored in contact, and by the summer time of 2021, the pandemic restrictions had began to loosen. Outside occasions resumed. I’d been itching to go to an outside live performance, and that’s when Jerry advised me he had an additional ticket for Lifeless and Co. Truthfully, once I accepted the ticket, it wasn’t to lastly meet Jerry in individual. I used to be simply bored with being caught at house.
I didn’t have any expectations. However the first time I noticed Jerry smile in individual, I had this sense my life was about to get much more adventurous. And I noticed I favored him. He was clever, well mannered, and good-looking, and he liked all the identical music that I had liked for years.
After that first live performance, Jerry advised me he was falling for me and that he needed to see me once more on his travels with the band. After I reminded him that I used to be a single mother with a full-time job and couldn’t observe a band, he provided to take me to Crimson Rocks for my birthday.
I couldn’t say no. Jerry was handing me my childhood dream on a silver platter, and I needed to eat till I used to be full.
He pursued me relentlessly, and it was exhilarating and romantic. Nothing like that had occurred in my grownup life earlier than him. We spoke every day, and our adventures over the subsequent two years have been wonderful.
However about two years into our relationship, I started to understand that Jerry and I won’t be eternally. We led such totally different lives. His was wild and attention-grabbing; mine was extra predictable. And as a lot as I liked his spontaneity, I started to see how chaotic his private life was. I began to marvel: Was I in love with Jerry, or was I in love with the way in which he had stayed linked to his childhood goals as an grownup?
After two years of seeing one another periodically and speaking every day, the facade began to fade. The rose-colored glasses have been off, and I used to be seeing issues extra clearly. Whereas professionally profitable, Jerry jumped from job to job. He lived in fixed drama along with his household, and all his touring took a toll on his well being and his relationships. I additionally began to marvel if there have been different ladies like me in his life.
I by no means doubted that Jerry cared deeply for me, however I couldn’t assist however marvel if he had ladies like me in a number of states. I by no means requested him. I needed to remain in my bliss, dwelling out my childhood dream of music and love—to remain within the bubble of contentment and happiness with what we had, with one exception.
I needed to see extra of him. And, finally, I needed to know that I used to be vital to him.
Jerry couldn’t do this. He had a tough time committing to anyone or something apart from the band. I understood. It was that life-style that drew me to him within the first place, however I couldn’t proceed a relationship like that.
The final time I noticed Jerry, as I used to be dropping him off on the airport to fly house, I began to cry uncontrollably. I noticed that the free-spiritedness of courting Jerry had a darkish aspect: uncertainty. Each time he left, I by no means knew if or once I would see him once more. Just like the bands I had liked to observe, every little thing was on his phrases. He determined when, the place, and the way, whereas I simply confirmed up. It was unbelievable, however I needed—wanted—extra.
After I advised Jerry that I needed extra dedication, I believed for certain that he would select me. It’s what I’d have achieved. However he didn’t. And it broke my coronary heart. At the least for some time.
As soon as my relationship with Jerry ended, I had time to mirror. I noticed that in our pragmatic world it’s all too straightforward to exist on autopilot. Nonetheless, we shouldn’t abandon our childhood goals as a result of they join us to our interior fact and reveal the magic that surrounds us—and never solely in iconic locations like Crimson Rocks or in grand gestures like love-bombing and being swept off my ft.
Magic additionally exists in the great thing about a cotton sweet sundown whereas driving house after a protracted day at work. It exists within the time I spend with the folks I like, like my ninety-year-old mom, whose short-term reminiscence not exists, however once we sit hand-in-hand and play Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” we smile and sing each phrase and really feel joyful within the second, even when we’re off-key.
Magic surrounds me when my ex-husband, who I think about a good friend now, and I watch our magnificent eighteen-year-old daughter reside her life, and beam with pleasure on the wonderful younger girl she’s turn out to be.
Most days, although, I discover that once I hearken to music, attend concert events, and spend time writing, these are the moments I do know who I’m, and my childhood goals come to life.
And, in fact, falling in love with Jerry taught me a helpful lesson:
Relationships don’t need to be long-lasting to be impactful. Typically, a short-lived expertise, like these concert events I chased all my life, may comprise years-worth of depth, love, and that means.
And, I discovered, courting doesn’t need to result in a hoop. Typically it results in dwelling a childhood dream and falling in love beneath a transparent Colorado sky.
Typically, that’s sufficient.
About Shelly Gill
Shelly is a gross sales skilled and occasional author based mostly within the Philadelphia suburbs. She’s keen about storytelling, good music (particularly sixties rock and roll), and having enjoyable to the beat of her personal soundtrack.
