When today started, it looked pretty bleak. I didn’t want to drive three hours to Poughkeepsie, NY for the show we were scheduled to play, but I’m so glad that we ended up having these plans today. I guess the sucky morning gave me something to compare such a great show to, and that made it seem even better. I’m very lucky that I have things like wizard rock shows to remind me that I’m super blessed, even when I don’t feel so great.
The people at the show today were more enthusiastic than I’ve seen an audience in a little while. I looked on as a girl who was so happy to be talking to Matt that she started to cry happy tears. Several awesome groups of friends told me how excited they were to be able to meet me and see me play. I guess after being so upset this morning, I immediately decided to make it my personal mission to give them a reason to be so happy and excited (or even moreso than they already were).
A few years ago, I was completely in love with Kelly Clarkson and her music. All I wanted for a while was the chance to give her a hug and tell her how much she meant to me. When I was sixteen, after a few years of waiting outside stage doors and entering contests, I finally won a meet and greet pass through the Kelly Clarkson fan club. I had seen her play nine times before that night, and I was so incredibly excited to finally be able to talk to the person who made me so happy with her music.
The one thing I worried about was that she wouldn’t be as great as the person I had always thought she was, since after all, I was only watching her on TV and enjoying her music. Immediately when it was my turn to meet her, I was so overwhelmed with happiness that all of those doubts went away. I ran up and hugged her, gave her a big kiss on the cheek, and told her how much she meant to me, and instead of being creeped out or annoyed like she probably should have been, she looked so genuinely happy that I was incredibly ecstatic to meet her.
I noticed right away that our conversation felt like it was happening between old friends rather than strangers. For someone who had no clue who I was, she definitely made it feel like she had known me for years. The truth was, Kelly had been a part of my life for a few years. I hadn’t entered hers until that minute (and I haven’t seen her since), but she still treated me as if she had known me all this time.
There’s no way I could have predicted all of this, but that night I told myself that if I ever ended up in a position where I could make music that makes people as happy as Kelly made me with hers, I would do everything in my power to make their lives the way she made mine that night. Sometimes, I’m busy or stressed out or I just plain forget how much her music did for me, but on days like today, it’s all I can think about, and all I want to do is make other people as happy as she made me.
Today, with all of the wonderful people I met reminding me of my younger self, I was totally channeling Kelly. And while I do hope that I even came a little bit close, I’m finally realizing something that I never could have imagined that night almost six years ago. Just because I hadn’t met Kelly before doesn’t mean that I haven’t changed her life just as much as she had changed mine. The wizard rockers and nerdfighters I spent this afternoon with are the reason why I’m even able to have shows like this. You guys are why I’m here, and while I’ve known that for a while, I just made the connection that even though we may have never met, you have touched my life. And the truth is, I’m honored to have touched yours.
