One evening, sitting in my tiny-tiny dorm room, I randomly went on the website of Jack's Mannequin, the band of Andrew Mcmahon, my favorite songwriter. He's in the playlist for everything I write. He's my ringtone. I am quite into him.
The band was in Boston. That night. Playing at House of Blues, which was .7 miles away from my dorm. I'd walked it before. The show started in an hour.
Did I get off my butt and head down there to beg for tickets? No. There wasn't a way to check online for tickets. I'd had a bad experience at HoB before. I didn't want to walk. (N.B. THERE WAS A BUS). But really, I was just going through a time when I let opportunity pass me by, because I was not mentally in a good place. I was convinced Things Wouldn't Work Out or Be Worth It.
Two days ago, I got an email about a benefit concert (in LA) that would "be the last Jack's Mannequin show". The band is splitting so Andrew can work on other things. I'm excited to see what that will be, but I will always, always regret not walking those seven blocks to try to see hm at HoB.
The thing is, you can't always recognize opportunity. The right way to spend an evening might be watching Buffy with your roommate instead of responding to that facebook event invite. But given the choice between nothing and something, I've always believed in something.
I spent my backpacking weeks jumping from event to event, seizing opportunities. It's time to reclaim that part of myself.
I wish I still had that kind of freedom.
ReplyDeleteThat's my outlook as much as possible. Do all the things. Sometimes it makes me too busy and spread too thin, but I'd rather not have regrets over missing out on something.
ReplyDeleteAndrew McMahon went to HS with a good friend of mine. I've seen him in Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin. I'm so excited for whatever he has going on next!