I desperately needed to go for a long run, pound the pavement for a while, clear my mind by concentrating on my body, push myself to my limits. In deference to my ankle, I went rollerblading instead. And it was heavenly. It also got me out of town, which was lovely and more necessary than I had realized.
Accompanying me on my journey were Chris and Johnny, who delivered some sage advice on dealing with stress. What they had to say to me was "Let it all go":
An infinite wisdom is there if you can listen
And out of it you can grow
And after the rain you'll be entire again
If you can let it all, let it all go
Well, guys, I'm workin' on it. Today was a good start.
At one point in my favorite rollerblading route there is a steep cobblestone incline, at the top of which is a gorgeous paved trail along an overflow pond. I was intimidated by the 40-degree angle and sketchy surface of the incline the first time around, but once you master it, it's really no problem getting up there. This time, a delivery guy was just getting back into his car at the bottom. Having ascertained that I was headed for that path, he hesitated and then said softly, "Passen Sie auf!" ('Be careful, now.') Part of me was thinking Look, buddy, I can take care of myself. Trust me; I've done this before. But it wasn't condescending -- he couldn't have been much older than me and seemed to mean well. So I smiled, and said "thanks, I will," and went on my merry way. When I had reached the top, he opened his car door, gave a little wave, and drove off.
I have to admit, it was really nice to know that at the bottom of that incline, somebody had my back.
I am in a situation right now where I really need to have confidence in myself, where I need to look obstacles and uncertainties straight in the eye and say, "I can take you!" I need to know in no uncertain terms that I am good enough and strong enough and capable enough. And deep down inside, maybe I do. But until those inner reserves can be summoned out of me, until I can trust myself to really believe it, what I have to hold on to is a new lesson I've learned: in those times when I can't see all sorts of great stuff inside me and love myself for it, I have to let go and let other people do that for me. And to my utter astonishment, I can, and they do.
Spotter ready?
-Ready.
Falling...
-Fall away.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
fall away
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7 comments:
The line's actually "An infinite wisdom is there if we can listen/And out of it we can grow." Which I mention just by way of reminding you again that you've got all the help you need available from we your blogging community.
(It's also "'Cause after the rain..." and they weren't Chris and Johnny by the time Miles and Means came out. Which I mention just 'cause I'm unnecessarily anal about such things. :-D)
My goodness, are you picky. I could have sworn they were singing to *me* yesterday. :-) And I *will* persist in calling them Chris and Johnny, because those are their names!
And thanks.
(reposted without the made-up word "culiminated")
True, true (this is fun!), they weren't Storyhill until This Side of Lost came out. But for Miles and Means and Clearing they were calling themselves "Chris Cunningham and Johnny Hermanson" in the early stages of the break-away-from-what-they-thought-was-a-silly-high-schoolish-band-name that culminated in "Storyhill". They were only "Chris and Johnny" for Chris and Johnny, Shapeshifting, and Different Waters. When they first played at Wartburg John asked me to not introduce them as Chris and Johnny and then we talked for a while about how hard they were finding it to break away from the first name people had learned.
Jess is completely right, of course, in saying that she could have been talking about the fellows' names instead of the group's name... but John'll correct you these days if you call him Johnny.
Hope you're finding all this helpful, Jess! :-D
Ooh, this *is* fun!
Charlie.. *maybe* I could compromise to "Chris and John"... although then I might just as well say Storyhill. Plus, Chris and John could be anybody... like 'John and Chris, for all your household plumbing needs'. It means nothing. I fell in love with them as Chris and Johnny, and that is what all of their music is called in my head, and chances are I will never meet them, anyway, persisting as I do to stay far away from their stomping grounds (*sigh*), and somtimes you just have to let the fairy tale continue. :-)
So... Joannie, I'm with you. Chris and Johnny all the way. :-)
This seems like a good enough excuse to launch into my favorite story ever... apologies to those of you out there who are confused and bewildered. Storyhill (fka Chris Cunningham & John Hermanson, fka Chris and Johnny) is definitely music that everyone should be acquainted with if they're not already - learn about 'em here and then buy the music here (of find 'em on iTunes). You absolutely won't regret it.
Anyway - back to my story. I first heard them play at Luther in the spring of '94 and then Kevin Roiseland inundated the staff with their music during that summer at EWALU. I was hooked, so the next fall I talked to Patricia Clancy (the CAB director at the time) and told her she should - nay, she must - book them that year. Okay, she said, and promptly contacted their booking agency and did so (marking the only time anyone has ever taken my advice on anything; this story would be cool for just that reason). The morning of their show she called me, frantic and apologetic - "Charlie, I'm sooooo sorry but I've got an emergency and I have to leave town. Can you meet Chris and Johnny at Player's Theater this afternoon and help them get set up, take them to dinner, be their contact person?"
So I got to spend the afternoon with them and then introduce them (which is why John talked to me about their change of name) and that established me as the guy-who-knows-them on campus so I got to do so for the next 3 years, too. No credit of mine, but it sure is cool to have spent so much time with 'em. Extremely nice guys. They remember me, too - which impresses me since they must have had dozens of star-struck college contact people just like me - Matt was talking to John after a recent show in Cedar Rapids and John said, "You're the guy in a band with Charlie, right?"
:-D
Anyway. Certainly neither here nor there, and there's no reason whatever you can't keep calling them whatever you like. I sure do love that story, though.
That is most definitely a Very Good Story. It does not happen so often that our brushes with fame brush back! Go you! :-)
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