Anyway, last night Patrick and I saw Jason Mraz. From the second row! It was pretty amazing, as I knew it would be. But my purpose here today isn't to write a concert review (although it would be a rave review, I assure you), it's more to convey what Jason Mraz is to me. I had a hard time even explaining this to Patrick last night, so again, I don't know how well I'll really get it to come across here, but I figured it was worth a shot anyway.
The first time I saw Jason Mraz was back in 2005 when he opened for Alanis Morrissette. He blew me away. I have never been so enthralled by an opening act, and I don't know that I can even describe how I felt during his acoustic opening act. Thus began my love affair with him. Since then, he's proven to be the soundtrack to Patrick's and my life together, as we started dating on the day I went to see him in Chicago and Patrick filled in at the last minute as my concert-going partner. I've seen him play on my birthday, Patrick proposed to me the day before we saw him play a couple of years ago (and had considered proposing at the concert), and his music was part of our wedding ceremony.
Anyone who knows me--and they don't even have to know me all that well--knows a couple things about me. 1.) Music is a HUGE part of my life, and 2.) I tend to get obsessive over things that I love, urging those I know to love those things with me. Jason Mraz ties well into both of those things, though I realized something last night. It started out gradually, and by the end of the night I was trying to put how I felt into words. It started when Jason sang "Lucky." We were seated in the second row of the arena, on the right side of the stage. During "Lucky" he came and sang directly in front of where Patrick and I were sitting. And I realized, while I was very excited about this, I was NOT freaking out. I took some pictures, a minute or so of video, and then put the phone away and enjoyed the performance. It was an amazing moment, but there was no urge to run on stage to him or hyperventilate (which my friend Erin can tell you has been my reaction in past concert experiences). I just loved his music and the show he was putting on. This felt like growth to me.
As the concert went on, he continued to blow me away as he has in the past with the great show he puts on and the message that he sends. And this is where things will start to get cheesy and I fear what I am trying to say will get lost in translation. I tend to think of myself as a fairly positive person. I think a defeatist attitude will get you nowhere, and if you want things to change in your life, you need to take charge of them. Complaining doesn't actually change anything, doing things does. Don't get me wrong, I can whine with the best of them and sometimes do a GREAT job of not taking my own advice. But overall, I like to think I'm more glass half full about life, and try to help others see the brighter side of a suck-tastic situation when I can. That being said, one of the things I tend to have a hard time with is OVERLY positive people. Those who take the whole positivity message to the extreme, becoming one with nature, and harmonizing with the planet. That tends to be too much for me, and I roll my eyes and step away.
The thing is, Jason Mraz IS one of those overly positive people, with that hippy-ish, harmonic attitude that normally I would hate. And yet, with him I don't. There's something about him that is just so appealing, and that positive message somehow gets through to me in a way that doesn't make me want to roll my eyes. I mean, his songs are by and large very positive, even when they're sad. And he himself is a very upbeat person, finding the plus side and the peaceful solution in just about any situation. I told Patrick last night that, as cheesy as I know it sounds (and believe me, it does), I feel like the world is a better place for Jason Mraz being in it. Not just because of his music, but because of him as a person. There are not many celebrities I feel I can say that about, as much as the things they help create may make the world more enjoyable. Jason Mraz, though, really seems to care about spreading a message of peace and love, and leaving the world in a better place than it was when you found it. There's a moment during every show, I think, when he makes sure the crowd is totally involved, and even urges them to give a stranger a high five, dance like crazy, and just be free. And everyone listens. It's really an amazing thing to see, because at most concerts you have a bunch of people who do what the band tells them, while you have a large portion that are just like "there's no way in hell I'm doing that." But at a Jason Mraz concert, self-consciousness goes out the window, and everyone there just really has a good time for as long as the show lasts.
I left last night floating on a cloud of happiness that is rare for me. I feel that, the older (and more jaded?) I get, those moments of pure happiness and contentment get fewer and farther between. I don't get excited about things in the ways I used to when I was younger, and I miss losing that. But the longer the concert went on last night, the happier I felt, and that lasted with me the rest of the night (douchey teenage driver who cut me off in the parking lot aside). It still sticks with me today. And while this feeling is stronger after seeing him live and having his attitude rub off on me live and in person, it's how his music makes me feel in general. When I'm having the kind of day where EVERYTHING irritates me, the only thing that usually calms me back down and brings my blood pressure to an acceptable level is to put his music on. Before I know it, I'm calmer than I thought I could be and able to focus again.
The thing is, I don't know WHY his music has the effect on me that it does, out of all of the music I listen to. Like I said, I love music in general. I've been to a ton of concerts over the years and spent all the money I made in high school on music. And while I have other favorite bands, and my favorites have remained pretty consistent over the years, none of them has had the effect on me that his music has. As cheesy as I know that it sounds, and as this whole post as been, there's a magic to what he does that I don't know can be explained. One day maybe I'll get to thank him for that magic. But for now, I'll share that feeling with you and continuing being awed by it.
