Inspiration
Here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, summertime is the time. If you’re from a similar climate, you understand. We don’t get that many nice days, maybe a few months of sunshine and warm enough weather to truly enjoy the great outdoors. That also means, as a city, we get creative with pushing that to the limit - enter festival season. Milwaukee is known as the city of festivals - we’ve got them all. The one I want to profess my love to today is Summerfest.
I’ll admit, I’m a convert. Notoriously, I am the one that was good for at most one amphitheater (reserved seating, under a roof, great headliners over the years) show per summer, and even then I’d have to gear myself up for it. It’s been a while with the crowds, the personalities, and the amount of skin you’d see. This year though, Eve 6 was coming to town.
Horrorscope has to be in the first 5 albums I owned as a just-barely teen. It accompanied me on family road trips (probably should not have been shared on the rental car stereo when I was 13 but thanks Mom and Dad for no judgment!) and was on repeat on my Walkman (hey elder millennials!) As I got older and my tastes refined, I always included Eve 6 in the rotation, exploring their entire catalog but I’d never seen them live. Though, in fairness, I’m not sure they made it to Wisconsin all that often.
Last week the stars aligned and they were coming to Summerfest. Better yet (again, elder millennial here) they were on a free stage, at 4:15 pm and it was Throwback Thursday admission and drink prices. That was an easy sell to my husband. To top all that off, when we arrived we had our choice of seats and then they opened up the ‘pit’ to anyone who completed a short sponsor survey. Heck yea! I had the easiest time I’ve ever had at Summerfest and got the closest I’ve ever been to a band I love.
Once the set was done (the sun still shining) we wandered back behind the stage to hang around and see if we could catch the band. Well, we did and they were so f*cking nice and I got to meet all three of them! My husband put up with a grin I couldn’t wipe off my face for days.
I had been inspired. I had witnessed three dudes, living their craft because they wanted to. They were out there, doing their thing, telling their stories, and sharing the experience with all of us. Music is such magic that inspires me because I can’t do it. I feel no pressure to be good at it, I don’t know all the ins and outs to know when something is wrong, but I know what I like and how it makes me feel. It’s one of the few times I can get out of my head and just be.
Since last week my brain has been flooded with all the creative thoughts blocked in recent weeks. Solutions are coming to me for problems I’ve been trying to solve, I’ve written many lists of things to draw, books to read, and where I want to go. It finally feels good to be pushed out of my comfort zone - the unknown is exciting! It is so freeing to be inspired, and I’m ready. All because I saw an awesome band do their thing in this world.
No matter which creative you are - a maker, artist, designer, musician, or writer… please remember your craft matters. Somebody is paying attention, somebody is feeling, and what you do matters. We can all use more inspiration and good feelings in our lives.
So, what inspired you today? What are you encouraged to do now? Let me know below!
