My city was gone

I'm going back to Ohio. I'm leaving a week from Monday or Tuesday, whichever I can swing. I'm playing the gathering music for Jon Case and Rachel Manthey's wedding. And I'm super looking forward to seeing some friends. I'm completely not looking forward to performing. I'm completely looking forward to the wedding and being a part of it, but I'm not looking forward to the actual putting of the plectrum to the strings and the vibrating of the vocal chords. I wouldn't feel emotionally nervous about playing in front of the President (although I'd be mentally nervous on a grand scale), but if I screw something up here, you know, it's a wedding! It's an actual Thing That Matters. These are my Friends. This a Big Moment.

I just hope my laid back singer-songwriter stylings help chill me out as much as I hope they chill everybody else out. Mike "The Big Chill" Prewett. That should be my record label. Big Chill Records.

Anyway, back to Ohio. And I know that in some way, my city is gone. I haven't even gotten back yet, but there's been a really strong swing away from city life for me. There's a certain lack of groundedness, lack of honesty and integrity about cities. Cities are places where people think they have actually achieved something notable. Big buildings. Big egos in small bars. Big, utopian ideas. Success. Lights. Concrete. Grocery stores. Malls. Culture.

That's not to say that cities are cess pools. Not at all. I enjoy all of these same things (except big egos in small bars, that's always a load of bull.), but I'm feeling very wary of these lies. Of course, cities are also places of respite from the harshness of the world, a dose of tame in the surrounding jungle. And that can lead to a Gentleness and Compassion. And that, that I miss about city life.

So it's going to be very strange for me to spend some time in the city after having spent a year outside of it.

But mostly, I'm looking forward to being with Friends.