My wife, Susan, has this exercise she does most mornings in which she writes down "thankfuls" - things she's thankful for, whether really simple or more significant - as a way of both clearing and refocusing her mind. I've experienced a lot of thankfuls in the last month at the shows in Sylva and Marshall, NC, so I thought I'd share some of them with you.
In Sylva...
- thankful for City Lights Cafe and the way they serve their community
- thankful for the kids' toys strewn around the stage
- thankful that I was in a good head-space that evening
- thankful for the good tone I had from my amp
- thankful that I got to play my newest song - always a good feeling
- thankful for the folks at the show who had just moved from Alaska, and getting to play "Northern Lights" for them
- thankful for the little note they left for me, pictured here, recommending a song to me (I listened to it - it's good!)
- thankful for the spectacular view across the mountains on the drive over and back
In Marshall...
- thankful for our host, Emily, at the place where we stayed in Asheville, and her amazing homemade cookies
- thankful for the drive over to Marshall, which is this awesome little well-off-the-beaten-path railroad-and-river town
- thankful for the atmosphere of Good Stuff, which is housed in this old former appliance warehouse
- thankful for the way Good Stuff reminded me of the stock rooms of the sporting goods store where I worked as a teenager in Oxford
- thankful for the excellent burgers we had there
- thankful for the easy-to-use and good-sounding, crusty ancient PA system, marked with these really helpful labels for "House" and "Monitor"
- thankful for the excellent acoustics of the all-wood converted space
- thankful for Leonard, who stuck around and talked a bit after the show
- and mostly thankful that, when I played "Good Things Are Gonna Happen for You" and reached the chorus and the words "I don't know how I know it but I do/ For me it is a hard-wired truth" I realized that I was the one most needed to hear that song just then, having been overly anxious lately and somehow lost sight of the experience of positivity that is elemental for me.
Thankful.
In Sylva...
- thankful for City Lights Cafe and the way they serve their community
- thankful for the kids' toys strewn around the stage
- thankful that I was in a good head-space that evening
- thankful for the good tone I had from my amp
- thankful that I got to play my newest song - always a good feeling
- thankful for the folks at the show who had just moved from Alaska, and getting to play "Northern Lights" for them
- thankful for the little note they left for me, pictured here, recommending a song to me (I listened to it - it's good!)
- thankful for the spectacular view across the mountains on the drive over and back
In Marshall...- thankful for our host, Emily, at the place where we stayed in Asheville, and her amazing homemade cookies
- thankful for the drive over to Marshall, which is this awesome little well-off-the-beaten-path railroad-and-river town
- thankful for the atmosphere of Good Stuff, which is housed in this old former appliance warehouse
- thankful for the way Good Stuff reminded me of the stock rooms of the sporting goods store where I worked as a teenager in Oxford
- thankful for the excellent burgers we had there
- thankful for the easy-to-use and good-sounding, crusty ancient PA system, marked with these really helpful labels for "House" and "Monitor"
- thankful for the excellent acoustics of the all-wood converted space
- thankful for Leonard, who stuck around and talked a bit after the show
- and mostly thankful that, when I played "Good Things Are Gonna Happen for You" and reached the chorus and the words "I don't know how I know it but I do/ For me it is a hard-wired truth" I realized that I was the one most needed to hear that song just then, having been overly anxious lately and somehow lost sight of the experience of positivity that is elemental for me.
Thankful.