Watching the water, People.
This may be a journal entry.
I drove up to San Luis Obispo with my opener, Esther Povitsky. There’s a point where the water, the Pacific Ocean, just appears on the left side of the road driving north. It’s immediately relieving. The expanse, the space. Something gives in the mind. It’s natural. It's necessary.
I have a hard time keeping my eyes on the road. I just want to look at the horizon line between water and sky.
I don’t think anyone looks at the ocean and says, ‘This is bullshit.’
As I write this I’m sitting in a balcony room facing the ocean. I stood out there for a few minutes. It may be the only way to check in with who you are. Solitary, with the sound of the breaking waves. The loud quiet. It’s a good alone. Spread the mind out, way out, beyond all of the yous.
As futility settles on the world spinning into a time without us and chaos and disaster become inevitable seemingly on all levels, the only peace attainable is peace of mind. If you have it, even for a few minutes, you may see a way out. A way to help. A way to a clarity of perception that may encourage acceptance without fear. Coming from that place is where purpose lives.
All that said, wrestling with myself on stage, which is what I do, is my current purpose, I guess. I did a show at Largo the other night that may have been the best show of my life in terms of freedom of mind and magical connections in the moment. The Great Nothing delivering the line to a fearless mind in a split second where a laugh can save a life or a moment. Good time.
The show last night in San Luis Obispo was intense. There was a huge platform stage that I assume was set up for Taj Mahal the following night. The Fremont Theater is an old movie theater. Wide and set up as such. The laughs were tinny and loud. I felt myself shredding apart in moments. I hadn’t really eaten all day. So, my hold on myself and the audience was raw and tenuous. It felt like a lot was on the line in moments. Just a show. Nothing really on the line except what I was self-generating in my mind in relation to what I think of me.
Today I have a kind of bouncing off the walls talk with my old friend Caroline Rhea. On Thursday, if everything goes as planned, I will talk to comic and former SNL writer Mike O'Brien.
Enjoy!
Boomer, Monkey and LaFonda live!
Love,
Maron
