stradasphere

Streaming Pete

Oh, I should be working. But on http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/ there is streaming video. Streaming now is Pete performing his Lifehouse project. It's a great way to spend a few moments at work; but then the nagging feeling hits me as I watch the musicians smile at each other as they perform...will I spend the rest of my life pinning away wishing I was somewhere else? Or rather doing something else?

The stage, ah the stage. I loved it so much. Whether performing as an actor on many different stages or as a rock and roller rocking out in clubs. Now begs the question: Can I live a fulfilled life without it? Or do I live in little fantasy worlds, watching concert videos, superimposing myself into the screen and onto the stage. At 41, the latter seems like things to come. I smile the satisfied smiles shared by the players after hitting a great break or after a particularly tasty solo. I am there, if only in my mind.

Playing guitar in church is satisfying in another way...performing is not really part of the picture there. I am there to honor God and use the gifts and talents He gave me to try and help people to experience worship. It is how I worship, and I hear Him much louder in music than in reading or preaching.

But He also gave me the gift of performance. OK, call it showing off, whatever. I love it. I have been known to sling a guitar with the best of them in the bars in Tempe. Exhilarating to say the least, dare I say sexual.

This can be a good spot to be in on a Friday, or a depressing one. I can't let this good thing bum me out this weekend. Hope is a strange thing; it can inspire then it has a tendency to turn around on me and morph into depression. So, I know what I need to do, perhaps tonight--plug in my green Gretsch guitar and rock out a little. Imagine a hall full of people cheering and tear it up..if only in my little office.

posted by Unknown @ 3:12 PM