The last few weeks have been crazy-busy. We’ve been in and out of town several times and had lots of commitments on our calendar. It was all fun and we really had a great time. But after so much on-the-go, we’ve started to feel completely worn out.
I knew July was going to be busy. But I had no idea how much it was going to wear us down. I thought doing all of these fun things and adventures were going to invigorate our zest for life. All it’s done for us recently is invigorate the ability to sleep through alarms.
Last night we ended up with a rare night off. Some plans had gotten rescheduled which left us with nothing really to do. We sat on the couch enjoying the unexpected still moment. We talked about the last few days, the fun we’d had, how blessed we are to have such amazing family and friends. We laughed at the dogs, we told each other all the things we’d meant to tell the other person over the last few days but had forgotten about or hadn’t had time.
I told her about a funny meme I’d seen online that said, “If Billy has 8 guitars and he gets 2 more, what does Billy have?” The punchline is, “Happiness. Billy has happiness.” It made me think of her because sometimes we talk about how many guitars I have, and how occasionally I’ll want another guitar.
We laughed, and it led to a conversation about guitars and the few more that I’d really like to have in my collection. She mentioned the old guitar that her father had given her and that she couldn’t quite remember what make it was. So we went upstairs to take a look.
We opened the case and checked the make on the headstock. I told her that I used to have one just like it that I had gotten rid of years ago. I pulled it out to tune it and she found the cable in the back of the little amp she had and we plugged it in.
I played some old ’70s guitar riffs that I knew and we played a kind of name that tune. We laughed while I fumbled through long forgotten riffs and chord changes. We talked about favorite old songs while I tried to remember how they went.
At some point I started playing some ’90s song that we both knew and we started singing along. It was in the ’90s when I first started playing guitar, so the music of that decade shaped my playing and songwriting.
One song led to another, which led to another. We fumbled over forgotten lyrics, we laughed at our made up lyrical substitutions, and we sang out hearts out.
In our joy and nostalgia, time flew by and before we knew it, it was after 10 o’clock. Concerned that the noise might be heard by the neighbors (we may have had the amp turned up pretty loud), we decided to call it a night.
There’s something about unabashedly singing out loud with all your heart that sparks something deep inside. The connection that we have with music reaches deep inside of us and creates a sense of true joy. Music can be so profound that at times it can bring us to tears. I know that we both felt that at the time.
We never intended to have a sing along last night. But I’m so glad that it happened. It was much needed.
I encourage you, at some point this weekend, to have a sing along. Grab some friends and put some music on, turn the radio up in your car, pull out that old guitar and play the few songs you remember. It would do us all some good to just let go and sing with our hearts.