If It's Not Humane, It's Just Insane!

The last 90 days have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Sometimes exciting, sometimes disappointing, but never dull!?

This week we stopped in Austin, Texas, to connect with friends, hug babies, and listen to live music, sometimes doing all three things simultaneously.?

After watching players tune up, play a show, pick up, pack up, and get on to the next gig, I wrote the following joke:?

What do you call a musician who plays in five bands, plays four instruments, does three shows a day, has two nicknames, and takes one night a month off??In Austin, you call that musician a slacker!?

Rich?discusses what restores your soul when he presents his signature program, Taking Your Big Leap.?The daily concert between Austin's journeyman musicians and their loyal audiences restores my soul.?

This past week we saw?Warren Hood,?Emily Gimble, and?Johnny Nicholas?and attended the?The Purgatory Players?Brunch on Sunday. The Purgatory Players show up at 11:00 AM every Sunday, donating their time and talents to raise money for the?SIMS Foundation?and the Central Texas Food Bank.?

The Saxon Pub's?Sunday residence shows included a band that plays Irish Music called?ULLA, and we rounded out the week with a dose of the longtime Saxon Pub group called?The Resentments. (Jeff Plankenhorn?was on tour - another not-to-be-missed talent).

With the media peddling a story about division and hatred, I urge you to book a trip to Austin, Texas for the unique Austin phenomenon of small club music.?

Saturday night's performance by Johnny Nicholas, an accomplished singer and songwriter, who plays harmonica, guitar, and keyboards, was delightful. Johnny channels a Delta Blues sound with heaping helpings of classic 1950's style rock and roll.?

A young man stood before the bandstand during the show and played a harmonica. The amplified music coming off the stage drowned out his harmonica's sound, although it was apparent that the young man was in seventh heaven. He also had the appearance of a differently-abled person.

A fleet of bouncers might have been dispatched in many venues to remove him from playing in front of the bandstand.?However, a "live and let live" ethos prevails in the live Austin music scene.?At the show's end, the star, Johnny, leaned over and conversed with the young man (yes, I was eavesdropping), thanking him for coming out and encouraging him to continue his joyful self-expression by playing the harmonica.?It was a generous and tender moment, full of compassion for the human spirit.?

It's not crucial to Johnny that the aspiring player become "good" or "good enough" or meet a metric that would provide a qualitative measure.?The only effort that counts for Johnny is that the young harmonica player continues to enjoy his experience and his right to self-expression.?

Johnny and a whole host of other musicians - who will likely never know the fame of those uber-famous musicians who are household names - stand on a mountain a world apart from extrinsic rewards.?They live off the milk of human kindness.?Yes - for the players and their audiences who leave behind the lure of must-see-TV and the comfort of their home, music is religion, community, and communion.?

Years ago, we all heard the memorable slogan: If it doesn't fit, you must acquit!?

Rich?offers the saying:??

"If it's a job you hate - delegate."?

Today I am suggesting a new slogan for the body politic in America to consider:

"If it's not humane, it's just insane!"

Look for and make more humane moments. They are available for all of us.?Pardon me while I adjust my rose-colored glasses; I am enjoying the effects of a soul restored.

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