So my band and I played our first show this past Saturday. I could honestly write page after endless page on the event. It was an amazing, life-changing experience. Yes, I’ve been on stage before, narrating or acting in plays and skits. Yes, I’ve played music in front people before, albeit specifically and exclusively in a worship setting. Yes, I’ve received thunderous applause for performing well. But this was different…this was metal. The power that the music wields, and the command it has over its listeners, is in my opinion unrivaled by any other genre. Up until Saturday night, I had only been facing the stage. I’ve lost my hearing, I’ve head -banged until my neck was all but severed, and I’ve moshed in some of the most brutal pits out there. But that was all about receiving the music. Saturday night, I got to release it. My band, as a whole, has never played louder, never rocked harder, and never sounded better than we did two days ago. Our performance exceeded all of our practices combined, aside from a few mistakes which were probably unrecognizable to the audience. I could feel the power, shocked and nearly overwhelmed at the fact that I was creating it.
Afterwards, I got to thinking about Plato’s theory of the forms, and I realized something. I’ve been lots of places, met lots of people, and tried lots of things. But my first show might be a time when I was the closest I’ve ever been to the forms, and to my true existence. I say this because, honestly, I barely even remember being on stage. But how is that so? Clearly my previous words have expressed how impactful this experience was. For it to make such an impact, I must be able to remember it, right? I don’t think so. I think that, for a moment, I was on a plane of existence where time didn’t matter, where conventional reality didn’t exist, and where I was in a state of being comparable to nothing less than pure bliss. I can tell you right now, I’m addicted to the stage. Indeed, the thing that made me happiest that night is this: I get to do it all again on Wednesday. I get to revel in the beauty and awe all over again. For a short period of earthly time, my soul gets to fly back home. Hail Metal \m/
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Its cool how our passions can do that for us. When we are totally focused on what we are passionate about, and we are "in the zone," I do think we are in the forms. Plato and Aristotle claim that philosophy is the way to the forms, but I think that that was only because philosophy was their passion. I think there are other ways to reach that state of mind.
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