On November 30^th I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.  I’d never seen him live before.  (I know, what?)

 

I sat in the nosebleed seats, directly across from center stage.  It was perfect. I got to see not only him and his band, but the whole crowd and how he was with them, with us, all.

 

I gotta say, it healed me.

 

Not just because of his complete commitment and passion (Neil Young once said, if you’re not going to give 110%, don’t do this job… Bruce gives 150),
Not just because of the amazing songs, old and new,
Nor only because of the vast and intimate talents of the musicians gathered on that stage – to see one of them, at some random club, show up to play a song or two would be a gift beyond price, let alone their being together, jamming, for Us – it was incredible.
Nor even because of the holiness and trust he brought into a stadium of 20,000 fans, turning it into a room of individuals, gathered together – inviting silence, holding it; walking into, then falling back on, a sea of hands that carried him…,
But that by being who he was born to be, by naming all that’s true for him and ever was, he gave us all Permission – to own the poetry of our Selves.
The exquisite and the shameful, the difficult and the shining. 

 

Every person, every moment I’ve ever shown up for is a piece of the poetry of me – and I get to celebrate it.  I surrendered to that truth in the Oracle Arena that night.  It was a gift. 

 

And so, in the spirit of giving…

 

This holiday season, I challenge you to celebrate the exquisite poetry of your life. 

Wherever you have loved, been moved, touched or felt wonder…
Unrequited or no, that is yours
Wherever you have been addicted, that is your struggle
Wherever you have felt loss, that is your emptiness and yearning
Your anger, your despair,
And wherever you cannot stop loving, no matter what you do,
This is your joy…
You get to be this, you are this, in this lifetime
This is your personal poetry.  You get to live it.

 

You are the only one who ever gets to live out this, exact, poem.  Unique in all the world, forever.  Isn’t that fantastic?

 

Surrender to that this December. I’m gonna.  Cause, whether he knows it or not, The Boss told me to. 
“This train…”

 

 Happy Holidays to you.  Here’s to a very New, New Year!