Living

I'm gonna take a second to write something personal. And I'm not meaning something mentally personal, but just like an actual adventure. Is it weird that I think that writing about what I do is more personal than writing about what I think? Probably...
And what exactly did I do? I lived yesterday. That's what I did.  Okay, I promise I'm not trying to be annoying...  I just am not sure how to actually express how amazing yesterday was. 
I WENT TO A NEON TREES CONCERT!!!  It was literally probably the best hour of my life being at that concert, watching Tyler Glenn dance around stage, and rock it.  I mean, watching the entire band was incredible, but for a million reasons I could not take my eyes off of Tyler.
I don't think I've ever witnessed a human being that comfortable in embracing himself, with all his quirkiness, and not just embracing it, but owning it. It was inspiring. I mean, I had heard before that I was in for a treat, but I was blown away.  If someone can captivate you to the point that you don't even mind that one of your friends nearly died in a mosh pit, or that you basically just took a bath in a mud puddle, because the people behind you are kicking said puddle at you, and you can even ignore the fact that the other fans have groped and fondled you so much that you're pretty sure you lost your virginity just standing in one place, then you know that there is something incredible about the human being in front of you.
For the past month, I've been addicted to the album Pop Psychology, because it speaks to me. Seriously, ask my roommates, or my family, or my friends, or my coworkers, or that random girl I met on the bus the other day, who caught me singing "Voices in the Halls" under my breath. Literally every last one of them will say, that I am freaking insane, and should be checked into some twelve step program. So I figured the concert would just be a chance for me to appreciate the music that speaks so deeply to me with a bunch of other people who feel similarly.
I was not expecting to be blown away by such a powerful personality. Any man who can start a concert in a studded leather jacket, and go from that to a tank top with a smiley face on it, all because he's happy, is definitely a pretty courageous man, the type I want to be able to emulate someday.  But it was more than the courage it takes to be a returned missionary and blatantly admit that you are gay.  It was the way he loved us his fans. It was visible in the way he interacted with us, the way he kept singing, even when we got so off key singing along.  It was the fact that he was so respectful, even though we were chanting "one more song" for a good several minutes after he left the stage, he didn't come back, because none of the other bands got another shot. It was the way that he was able to joke about following Chris across country because he was a good guitarist, and not because he was into Chris.  It was the way he got choked up in "First Things First." It was the way that he ended by just telling us to find something that makes us happy and follow it. It was the fact that suddenly the songs that had spoken to my soul for the past month finally had a face, and that that face was attached to a person who had written those songs.  Somehow all of the feelings I have felt while hearing his music are even deeper and stronger within him.  It was the fact that even though I still have never had a conversation with Tyler Glenn, I found within him - as I stood about twenty feet away - a kindred spirit, albeit a kindred spirit with a lot more strength and courage than I have been able to muster yet in my twenty-two years of life.