“Most of us have two lives. The life we stay, 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 file, the legendary rock and roll tradition of the Sixties and 70s was a distant reminiscence. To some, it might 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 the whole lot.
I spent hours writing music 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 previous, I took a bus from my small city to Philadelphia to see the band Coronary heart. At fourteen, my dad and mom drove me hours away to see Stevie Nicks. Then, in my late teenagers, I drove all the best way 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 one way or the other, by my early twenties, that dream felt out of attain. I met a person, obtained married, and had a daughter. Our life was stuffed with routines that have been so completely different from the vagabond life I’d envisioned for myself. I traded spontaneity for self-discipline and gave up my desires of touring for the safety of a secure life and a home in a superb neighborhood.
Ultimately, the duties of marriage, profession, and endless to-do lists made my dream of going to Crimson Rocks really feel increasingly 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 speculated 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 in all probability weren’t a superb match. He was an actual property lawyer with a robust character and even stronger opinions. I gave our marriage the most effective of me that I might, but it surely felt like I used to be at all times being who he needed me to be.
I had misplaced myself. I’d overpassed my very own hopes and ambitions. I’d by no means even made it to Crimson Rocks.
In 2016, newly single, I felt wanting 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 instructed me he’d adopted the band as an adolescent, however he hadn’t stopped going to live shows like I had. He’d held onto his dream and seen them no less than 500 instances. It was virtually like he’d lived the life I’d imagined for myself method 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 someone near residence, and I’d finally cease listening to from him. However to my shock, he reached out periodically, usually to speak about what was occurring on the planet of Grateful Lifeless live shows. It appeared he needed to remain on my radar. He was at all times well mannered and respectful, by no means creepy or pushy.
Jerry was ten years older than me, however one way or the other jogged my memory of my youthful self. He had a refreshingly youthful spirit, which was utterly completely 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 season of 2021, the pandemic restrictions had began to loosen. Outside occasions resumed. I’d been itching to go to an out of doors live performance, and that’s when Jerry instructed me he had an additional ticket for Lifeless and Co. Actually, after I accepted the ticket, it wasn’t to lastly meet Jerry in particular person. I used to be simply bored with being caught at residence.
I didn’t have any expectations. However the first time I noticed Jerry smile in particular person, 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 beloved all the identical music that I had beloved for years.
After that first live performance, Jerry instructed 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 perpetually. We led such completely different lives. His was wild and attention-grabbing; mine was extra predictable. And as a lot as I beloved his spontaneity, I started to see how chaotic his private life was. I began to surprise: Was I in love with Jerry, or was I in love with the best way he had stayed linked to his childhood desires 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 together with his household, and all his touring took a toll on his well being and his relationships. I additionally began to surprise 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 surprise 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, in the end, 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 residence, 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 after I would see him once more. Just like the bands I had beloved to observe, the whole lot was on his phrases. He determined when, the place, and the way, whereas I simply confirmed up. It was unimaginable, however I needed—wanted—extra.
After I instructed Jerry that I needed extra dedication, I believed for positive 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 desires as a result of they join us to our interior reality 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 toes.
Magic additionally exists in the great thing about a cotton sweet sundown whereas driving residence after an extended day at work. It exists within the time I spend with the individuals I like, like my ninety-year-old mom, whose short-term reminiscence now not exists, however after 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 take into account a good friend now, and I watch our magnificent eighteen-year-old daughter stay her life, and beam with delight on the wonderful younger girl she’s turn out to be.
Most days, although, I discover that after I hearken to music, attend live shows, and spend time writing, these are the moments I do know who I’m, and my childhood desires come to life.
And, in fact, falling in love with Jerry taught me a precious lesson:
Relationships don’t need to be long-lasting to be impactful. Generally, a short-lived expertise, like these live shows I chased all my life, might include years-worth of depth, love, and that means.
And, I discovered, courting doesn’t need to result in a hoop. Generally it results in dwelling a childhood dream and falling in love beneath a transparent Colorado sky.
Generally, that’s sufficient.
About Shelly Gill
Shelly is a gross sales skilled and occasional author based mostly within the Philadelphia suburbs. She’s captivated with storytelling, good music (particularly sixties rock and roll), and having enjoyable to the beat of her personal soundtrack.
