We are here for but a moment… Time
If you really knew me… you would know I am a creature of habit. If you REALLY knew me, you would know that I keep things WAY longer than needed because…. 1) I don’t like change… 2) I don’t want to have to set anything new up… 3) OR, learn a new skill, device or read an operation manual… 4) If it ain’t broke… why fix it.
I know! I hate that I am sounding…. well…. YOU KNOW!
Full disclosure, my ego is coming to my defense by saying, “give yourself some credit! You love technology and have embraced your iPhone, MacBook Pro and how music has become a digital playground… you are NOT AS OLD as the first paragraph is making you sound!”
So… COVID hits!
Tours, shows, venues cancelled. New record to promote! HMMM???? Then, what I call Pandemic Paralysis reaches into every inch of my being, mind, body, soul. I find it hard to move or know which direction to face…. what to DO with music, time, lack of sharing and using my gifts.
It’s a razor’s edge… you know? I know the Lockdown Lemonade is about the gifts we each have found during the pandemic… I am getting there. But I am nothing if not authentic! I feel the need to share part of the above process with you to be able to share the gifts (and gravity in shift) I have felt recently! Happy Lockdown Lemonade #51!
Have there been gifts? YES!
I have spent much of the last 18 months in a weekly Zoom night with my sons. That’s a gift that would NOT have happened if not for COVID!
I have also been looking through the literal and emotional closets and drawers that I have filled with… stuff! Cables, computer programs, power cords, adapters, guitars, harmonicas and beliefs and systems I have subscribed to by choice or by circumstances. Things I have been holding onto because I MIGHT NEED THEM ONE DAY! Choosing to let go… or keep:-) Finding new ways of defining myself and my art.
As I write this… I am still sorting and finding things… wish me luck:-)
~Kerry Patrick Clark
Kerry Patrick Clark is a musical Norman Rockwell. He sings hope into our human experience.
www.KerryPatrickClark.com
Lockdown Lemonade is FAR-West’s response to the dramatic and drastic shifts of 2020’s global health and economic crises. For
many, this cultural reckoning and political upheaval spurred a period of personal reflection and the discovery of coping mechanisms some of us didn’t even know we had. Lockdown Lemonade is a look at the bright side. With this collection of flash creative nonfiction, brief personal essays, recollections, and musings from members of our community, we hope to shine a light on the best things that can and have come out of the most challenging of times. This column will continue on a weekly basis and postings will be released at 10 AM Pacific every Monday, so watch for them! For guidelines and submission details, please contact Julie Zipperer at julieZ@far-west.org or Marlynn Block at marlynn@far-west.org Submissions will be posted based on approval from the Lockdown Lemonade Committee.
many, this cultural reckoning and political upheaval spurred a period of personal reflection and the discovery of coping mechanisms some of us didn’t even know we had. Lockdown Lemonade is a look at the bright side. With this collection of flash creative nonfiction, brief personal essays, recollections, and musings from members of our community, we hope to shine a light on the best things that can and have come out of the most challenging of times. This column will continue on a weekly basis and postings will be released at 10 AM Pacific every Monday, so watch for them! For guidelines and submission details, please contact Julie Zipperer at