I watched an
interview several years ago with Garth Brooks. He is a "hands on"
performer, often working with the roadies setting up the stage. There was one
story where the lighting guy was working with a new sound guy setting up spots
on mics. The sound guy asked the lighting guy, "How do I know how high to
set the mic? How tall is he?" The lighting guy laughed and said, "Why
don't you ask him? He's setting up the drum kit."
Brooks talked
about what he wanted to do on stage during his performance. He said it was his
goal to "connect with the guy sitting up in the highest seat furthest away
from the stage." Lofty goal, pun intended. For that particular concert, he
had himself strapped up and a boom lifted him above the crowd to the outer
reaches of the top balcony. Up close and personal.
Kenny Chesney
said something similar about connecting to his audience, both collectively and
individually, and making it a memorable experience that would be felt as much
as it was heard. I’ve watched Chesney, Keith Urban and Ryan Tedder of One
Republic often change positions on stage, using preset mic stands so they can
get closer to the fans. At one awards show, Darius Rucker climbed off stage and
walked up into the wings to get closer to the fans- all while singing.
When I was in
eighth grade, my school had a science fair and the top three were chosen to take
part in the Marquette University science fair. My project was on Old Faithful.
My dad and I made a replica out of it using an old coffee pot and Plaster of Paris.
I did the research and found that Old Faithful wasn’t all that faithful.
What I remember
most was that my dad worked alongside of me, with me. He didn’t do the work for
me. I did it with his guidance and suggestions. He did the same with my Cub
Scout projects and Pinewood Derby race cars.
Honestly, that
was how I remember my dad best. He wasn’t all that talkative. He wasn’t all
that demonstrative. He liked to laugh and he liked to work with his hands as
much as with his heart.
And what I
remember best was that his heart was for each of us, all of us. That was his
gift to us . . . his heart. His patience. His kindness. His laugh.
As I write this,
it is Friday of the first week of school. And I wonder as adults, as teachers
and coaches and staff members and administrators . . . as parents . . . how are
we connecting with the kids? How are we connecting with each other? Are we
working on developing relationships with our kids, with each other?
Kids learn when
they perceive their teacher as caring about them. So I wonder . . . do our kids
know that we love them?
I learned a long
time ago that kids who are loved at home come to school to learn. Kids who
aren't loved at home, come to school to be loved. I think there are a whole lot
of kids whose homes are sometimes inadequate, and I hope each of us are
reaching out to them and connecting with them.
Do we find some
way of reaching out to the kid sitting up in the highest seat furthest away
from us as Garth Brooks did? Do we climb off
stage and walked up into the wings to get closer to the kids as Darius Rucker
did? That’s often where we find the kids trying to hide, trying so hard to not
be noticed, while at the same time, trying so desperately to be noticed.
We might not be
able to find and catch them all, but I think we cannot stop trying to do so. We
simply must try. We cannot ever give up trying. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
To My Readers:
Please feel free
to connect with me at:
Twitter
at @jrlewisauthor
Facebook
at: https://www.facebook.com/Joseph.Lewis.Author
If you like to
read thriller/mystery, check out:
Book One of the Lives Trilogy, Stolen Lives:
Two thirteen
year old boys are abducted off a safe suburban street. Kelliher and his team of
FBI agents have 24 hours to find them or they’ll end up like all the others-
dead! They have no leads, no clues, and nothing to go on. And the possibility
exists that one of his team members might be involved. http://tinyurl.com/Stolen-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Two of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives:
Six men escaped
and are out for revenge. The boys, recently freed from captivity, are in danger
and so are their families, but they don’t know it. The FBI has no clues, no
leads, and nothing to go on and because of that, cannot protect them. http://tinyurl.com/Shattered-Lives-J-Lewis
Book Three of the Lives Trilogy, Splintered Lives:
The FBI knows a
14 year old boy has a price on his head, but he and his family don’t. With no
leads and with nothing to go on, the FBI gambles and sets up the boy and his
family as bait in order to catch three dangerous and desperate men with
absolutely nothing to lose.
The Lives Trilogy Prequel, Taking Lives:
FBI Agent Pete Kelliher and his partner search
for the clues behind the bodies of six boys left in various and remote parts of
the country. Even though they don’t know one another, the lives of FBI
Kelliher, 11 year old Brett McGovern, and 11 year old George Tokay are separate
pieces of a puzzle. The two boys become interwoven with the same thread that
Pete Kelliher holds in his hand. The three of them are on a collision course
and when that happens, their lives are in jeopardy as each search for a way
out. http://tinyurl.com/Taking-Lives-J-Lewis
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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe