Happy Birthday, Jerry!

Jerry Garcia was a member of the Grateful Dead, one of my favorite bands.  Sadly, he passed away in 1995.  If he were alive, today would be his 70^th birthday.  I used to go to as many Grateful Dead concerts as I could.  Someone once said, “There’s nothing like a Grateful Dead concert”!  I would tend to agree and I’ve been to many, many rock and roll concerts.  Grateful Dead concerts were a combination of a rock and roll concert, a Renaissance Fair, and going to church.  The people who attended these concerts were a very colorful group of people.  The parking lot contained the world’s largest collection of vintage VW vans ever collected in one place.  Although some people would have thought the whole scene was rather bizarre, those in attendance found it to be a joyful experience.  I loved Grateful Dead concerts and I still miss them.  Fast forwarding to this morning, I read some thoughts on joy and happiness.  How many of us live joyful and happy lives?  How many of us even have joyful and happy moments?  Life is difficult and often challenging.  There are certainly days that most of us are just trying to get through the day.  Why can’t we be more joyful and happy?  What is standing in our way?  I think a big obstacle is our own fatigue.  There is much press about how sleep deprived most people are in today’s world.  I believe our fatigue, however, goes beyond just a physical tiredness.  I think it’s more of a psychic fatigue that is a combination of a physical, spiritual, and emotional exhaustion.  Most of us are just worn out from the demands of modern life.  I don’t know the answer for this.  I suffer from it as much as anyone.  For now, I think I will just listen to some vintage Grateful Dead on my iPod and tap into some of that joy and happiness I used to experience at their concerts.  Happy Birthday, Jerry!