Groban: A Reminder of Connecting

So, last night I was at the Josh Groban concert!!! And it was great…in many ways. His music is beautiful, the set was gorgeous, it was funny in moments...and it was a huge treat for me…between looking after my junior tribe members and my two jobs, I don’t really get out much. But my brother, sweetheart that he is, sent a couple of tickets my way…letting me know that Josh Groban is “dreamy” (and my bro would know cuz he has an adolescent daughter educating him about such). My “date” was Melanie, our office manager. We work well together, and are not only great co-workers, but good friends, too. Technically, I suppose, I’m her “boss”…but practically, on a day to day basis, really she’s my boss, as she often ends up telling me where things are at, what’s possible, and when I’m overscheduling in a way that keeps us all running smoothly. She really runs the admin end of things around Bergen and Associates in a great way that is fun and effective…but I digress. She’s fun and we hung out last night at the concert: What was cool about going with her was how there was a bit of theme last night around the value of connections…something that essentially defines us as a counselling practice. We went as friends, but had the value of our work validated and affirmed. Early in the show he sang, “You are loved (Don’t give up)”:

Don't give up It's just the weight of the world
When your heart's heavy I...I will lift it for you
Don't give up
Because you want to be heard If silence keeps you I...
I will break it for you
Everybody wants to be understood
Well I can hear you

Then he spent some time answering questions from the audience. The last question was from “Mitch” who nervously stood up while his question was asked…which essentially hinted at his deep desire to sing with Josh Groban on stage. This self-professed “small town” tenor said the song he was known for was “You raise me up”, a song I have previously blogged about. Josh invited him up on stage, and as he lumbered up, the crowd nervously giggled. They alternated lines. Mitch was clearly nervous (who wouldn’t have been!) so a few notes were a little shaky…but more often than not, his beautiful tenor voice rang out true and beautiful. When they got to the line, “I am tall when I am on your shoulders”…he lifted his hand and put it on Josh’s shoulders meaningfully. It was clear at that moment, how tall Josh was helping him to be…more than he could be. When he was done, Mitch got a standing O from the crowd…every one likes it when "the little guy" triumphs and has “his moment”. A few minutes later, Josh talked about the way he wants to “pay it forward”…to thank the teachers, mentors and counsellors (yup, he said counsellors!) that had helped shape him, and given him the inner resources for success. Part of that is helping organizations that give those resources to young people…so there were a bunch of youth from Graffiti Art Program at the show. He sang the song, “If I walk away” that furthers his effort to support those that need help and sometimes resist the very help they so long for:

Lately, I’ve been the quiet one 

Waiting, searching the lines of the songs you played for me

Sailing into the misty air 

Fading, bound for I don’t know where

When I’m there I’ll see

So if I walk away

Please follow me

Yeah if I walk away

Please follow me

The concert continued with Josh inviting a couple married 54 years on stage…asking him, “What’s your secret” and he says, “She keeps me young”…and so Josh asks her, “How do you keep him young?” and she answers, “We dance together”…He sits them on a couch and brings them some wine so they can be serenaded.

Josh goes on to sing this beautiful, haunting, lovely song which jarringly, is about infidelity…as he sings:

I'd give away my soul
To hold you once again
And never let this promise end
I let you go
I let you fly
Now that I know I’m asking why
I let you go
Now that I found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow

During this song, this couple spontaneously stands up from their seats and begin dance, slowly and lovingly and incredibly charmingly off to the side of the stage…the two moving in rhythm, both clearly familiar with the steps and patterns of the other. It was a beautiful reminder of the value of keeping the vow, and how marriage can be strong and sustained and committed and loving, even as Mr. Groban is singing about broken vows.

It sorta felt like it affirmed what Melanie, I and all the other therapists dedicate our lives to…to bringing people together in a world that is lyrical and melodic and exquisitely beautiful, but can be poignantly sad as forces in the background, in deep places work against and create disruptions in the connections that people so long to have deep and rich and vital.