Honestly, other than Elton I have no desire other than curiosity to go to Bonnearoo. Funny emotion, curiosity. It can bring us to a small, otherwise sleepy town, in Tennessee for 4 nights out of the year, it can cause us to pick up a People Magazine, or a National Inquirer (or at least nonchalantly read them in the grocery store check out line). Curiosity is what makes TV shows like Honey Boo Boo and I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant stay on television. We want to know what is going on in the world or at least the world media tells us exists. In our family we call that the "Mrs. Kravitz Syndrome." Remember her? the nosy neighbor on Bewitched TV series of the 60's?
Poor Gladys was always sticking her nose in where it didn't belong, being curious, or some would call being nosey. She would peer out her window from behind the curtain, watching the goings on across the street at Darrin and Samantha's house. But is being nosey all that bad, terrible, will it really kill a cat??? How horrible would it be if you stepped out from behind that curtain and got to know those on your street.
Maybe if we turned our natural bent towards curiosity towards things that could change our lives. What if we really spent our Dance Mom/Honey Boo Boo time into walking our neighborhoods really getting to know real people? What if we quit worrying about some girl made famous by us because "her father defended an football player accused of murdering his wife and her unfortunate teenage sex tape going public" and worried more about the kid walking past our house everyday after school, head down, face blank and feet shuffling. Is she hungry? Does he hate going home? Does she just need a friend?
What if we just sat on our porch and made ourselves available to those around us? Lifted our eyes to meet the eyes of those who need to be seen. Welcomed them into our sphere of recognition. Let our face soften in a way that says, "hello" instead of "what the heck!"
Poor Gladys, she wasn't so popular with the Stephens family because they were afraid she would catch Samantha twitching her nose and I am sure that sticking our nose into the lives of others could be costly as well. We could make a friend that may not have developed the skills to be a good friend or has been hurt by the world so many times they hurt first before they can be harmed. Maybe someone will take advantage of us or lie about us or misunderstand us.
But maybe, just maybe, someone needs you to notice them, or look out for them, or see them. Maybe we are called to be hurt some times. Or to give of ourselves in a way that we sacrifice. John the Baptist was quoted in the "Gospel of Luke" as saying, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” (Luke 3:11) He wasn't micromanaging your Good Will donation, he was telling us to give of ourselves to others; not necessarily our stuff but of what we have, time, attention, life; just give.
In order to give you must first notice those in need exist. Pull back that curtain. Walk out your door. Go Kravitz someone!
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four-day music festival held at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre (2.8 km²) farm in Manchester Tennessee. The festival starts on the second Thursday in June and lasts four days. The main attractions of the festival are the multiple stages of live music. Musical acts play from around noon until 4a.m. or later.
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