He listened to the blues. People sang him the blues all the time and he listened, out of an open heart and out of a misguided need to be a hero…out of a willingness to give safe harbor and out of a selfish desire to have safe harbor if and when the need arose…and people sang. People happily sang the blues to him.
People, he found, loved to sing the blues but they were less interested in hearing the blues…at least not his blues. They told him…your blues are self-indulgent and depressing, they make us uncomfortable, and they are annoying…how can you be a good audience if you’re trying to be onstage? So stop it. Just stop it.
And they were right. He was self-indulgent, trying to sing the blues when he was supposed to be there to listen to the blues. Not everybody gets to sing the blues. So he stopped it. He just stopped it.
He sat up straight. He gave his full attention. He closed off unnecessary parts of his heart. And he listened…he listened to the blues.
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