I am so happy right now.  I want to dance around.  I want to be peppy.

And I am not a person of pep.

It’s because I went to hear Patty Griffin play last night at the Crystal Ballroom here in Portland.  I’ve loved her music ever since I first bought her CD 1000 Kisses .  Because I liked the cover.  (Remember the dark ages of buying actual CDs?)

Her haunting, melancholy, tough voice has seen me through heartbreak, joy, depression, and peace.

So when I saw that she was coming to Portland, I bought myself a ticket so fast I scorched my credit card.

But then I had a little panic attack.

What?!?!?  A ticket to a show???  On a Thursday night???  And it doesn’t start until ten pm???

See, I’m a single mom.  I don’t do weeknight outings, because that means my kiddo stays up late too.  (She can out-awake even the most cunning of sitters.)

Plus, I dunno, I was feeling kind of old and matronly and fuddy-duddy.  Late-night shows are for hot hip people in leather leggings.

I went anyway.

And people?  Look at my face.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh it was sooooooooo wwwwwwonderful.

I’m going to find more ways to hear live music, because it fills me up in a way that nothing else can.  I forgot.  I forgot how visceral it is, how my soul actually tingles and shimmies and I melt into the utter bliss of someone making  magical, impossible sounds with their bodies.

Oh, I love it so much.

What about you?  What do you love?  What lights you up and makes you radiant?

Go get some.