How real are you?
Recall a whole day and choose the moments you have been real, from the food you consumed, the videos you watched, the songs you heard, the plants you touched, the words you spoke, the voices you heard...and so on. Recall how many times you felt REAL..Food doesn't count vitamins...Plants doesn't count walking with shoes on grass, songs doesn't count videos on youtube, words doesn't count gossips, hearing doesn't count the beeping and ringing of phones...now...how much of real moments do we experience in a day? Think!
We wake up to almost a robotic world, where everything is moving mechanically, we rush to fit into these routines not knowing heads or tails of where exactly we are going...but why the mad rush?
Coz, everyone is doing it and we will be left out if we don't? Left out? Left out from what exactly? From a sleeping society? From a hypnotized human race? From people who have long forgotten what it feels like to be real?
For a moment, think how you can be real..? I am not against technology...i love technology! But unfortunately technology works with HUMAN BEINGS...and are we being human in its true sense anymore...? We want everything either programmed, recorded, printed or screened...we cant touch an image of a rose stored in our mobile and feel the soft petals....we have got to be walking in a garden...sensing the fragrance and feeling the delicate petals against the skin to know the connection...to its subtle yet strong energy. That feeling you get when you touch a real rose...is REAL. Two amazing creations of the universe coming into contact...human being and a rose!! How beautiful is that?...the rose might not wonder what we are...but it will definitely absorb the love we radiate...You may be the BEST photographer in the world...but can you create THAT moment of TRUTH between a Rose and a Human Being in touch?
Just like that everything LIVE has its beauty, which no technology can replace. Like Music and Dance too. People have no time to go watch a live performance. They would say its too expensive or too troublesome...driving to the auditoriums, parking, getting the tickets and sitting for a whole two hours is too much for them...so they would watch videos on youtube. And now people are watching these videos on mobile phones, the screen is just about palm sized. Is that satisfying..? Seriously? Either we have gone so far into a fake lifestyle that we don't even know what satisfies the soul anymore or we simply have forgotten what it feels like to be real.
What do you get when you watch a LIVE performance?
You see a dancer on stage, say with 500 people watching...ALL eyes and lights on that ONE performer. The guts you need to stand on stage knowing a single mistake will be clearly seen by 500 people ON the spot...no chance of correcting...no chance of reproducing the effects, ONE time is all you have...just like life. You know the audience have paid their hard earned money and taken a precious part their time to come watch you. The responsibility falls on the performer. They have to touch 500 souls and keep their focus through out the performance. Does that sound easy to you?
That is why every professional artist will torture themselves through endless hours of practices for months, hurting themselves both physically and mentally before they stand before the audience. Every minute they are on stage is equivalent to hours, days and nights of practices. Ive seen artists cry during rehearsals for all the stress they are put through. And NEVER forget these performers live in the same MAD RUSH world as the audience. Some working and rushing to rehearsals right after office hours, not having a chance to go home and be with their families.
Why do they do it then?? Because its REAL. A dancer at heart will be willing to go through all these tortures for that 5 perfect mins on stage and for the blissful moments of connecting with 500 souls. Its priceless to them and they will do it over and over. You can only go through such pain willingly if you have the passion to do it. If not, it will be merely a torture!
"Too expensive" is the first thing people say when buying tickets to live performances...but that's because they do not realise what they are paying is not for just that TWO hours of show on stage alone. Its for the dedication of a performing artist in preparing themselves to be fit to be on stage as an entertainer. Most professionals have given their whole lives for it. What we see or hear on stage is someones childhood ripped off and put into hours of practices. What we experience is someones lifetime of focus on ART despite the harsh challenges faced day in and day out. What we witness is someone who dared stand out and follow their passion.
And we are not doing them a favour by watching live performance. We are in fact getting an out of the world experience ourselves. And by out of the world i mean REALLY out of this (robotic, youtube, facebook, twitter world) where you can feel the real energy and soul of a dancer or musician connect to you. The vibes of an instrument resonating though the auditorium...and beating with your heart...why else do people cry and scream at live concerts! Because its REAL! You feel ALIVE. You can feel the artist and art connected. You can feel the energy of the performer, you feel their emotions...it becomes an experience altogether...!Any form of art when performed by a dedicated and passionate performer has a certain quality which is capable of transporting the audience to somewhere beyond life....something you can never put into words. And THATS exactly what we pay for...priceless moments of ecstatic joy! Well its definitely easier way out, compared to meditation anyway ... :)
The more real moments you experience, the more in touch you feel with life..and the more in touch you are with life, the more joyful it becomes...
I cant remember how many live performances ive watched so far as ive been watching them since i was a little kid...easily a hundred shows...and also have had the chance to perform in quite a number of shows which kind of gives me a whole experience of being on both sides and i have to mention how blessed i am to be living in a city where such awesome live shows are staged all year through...giving me a chance to experience the REAL thing every now and then...
So, today i thought i would share these thoughts with some of you who might wonder why you should bother watching live performances when you can always hear it or watch it recorded...believe me...every instrument creates a connection through the vibrations produced and the effects can never be recorded...the sound may be reproduced but never the life energy that comes out of an instrument...just like that, only a dancer on stage performing live...will be able to convey their emotions by staying connected to the audience. Its again something you cant put in words....
So, next time you want to experience something for real...
Go catch a LIVE show!! :)
