Growing Older II: Past Hangs

I don’t know about you, but my teenage and college years (and even my 20s and early 30s) were filled with places that my social life revolved around. Places that I would go any night of the week and (most of the time) see someone I knew, many times multiple people. This kind of things seems to go the way of the dinosaur as you get older…especially once you have children. We don’t go out as much, and we certainly don’t go anywhere on a nightly, or even weekly, basis. It’s interesting, because I wrote the song “Make the Midnight Hang” years ago…before I had kids, before certain things in my life shifted permanently to a new paradigm. But it’s one of the songs I still feel connected to every time I sing it, because I still miss those places. Those places where I could wander in and sit down, have a conversation with whoever was around.

Sometimes these places were also venues where I performed. It is a truly great thing when you feel like you are not only welcomed as part of a community as a person, but as an artist also. Many times lately when I look back, I find myself wishing I had been more secure in my identity as an artist. When it came to certain physical places in my sphere, though, I was lucky to have some of the opportunities that I did. There were places that literally would just let me drop in and play songs if I wanted, if nothing else was going on.

Maybe the sense of belonging in these places is what I miss the most…especially since finding that sense of belonging was something I struggled with so much when I was younger. When we finally find places and situations and people that let us know we belong…it is freeing and fulfilling. And the places I miss in my life are places where I felt those things in big ways.

So, raising a glass to the past hangs today. New Orleans Cafe, Medina’s, Galileo…those were the big ones. The hangs are dead (or have been hanged…), long live the hangs. See you on the socials…as usual, I’ll have questions for you. :)