Getting lost in the crowd...

The No Doubt show. What more is there to say? So much, and so little. Yet, here I go. But I do so in vain, knowing from the beginning that I will fail. For there is no word in any language that can come close to describing the experience. In fact, it is such a life-altering, life-stopping, life-shattering experience that I, who prefer the solitude of my living room couch over going out, would stand crunched between thousands of complete strangers in order to be a part of it. In a weird way, that is part of the greatness. To be in one place surrounded by twenty-three THOUSAND fellow No Doubt fans, all experiencing the same euphoria at the same exact time, singing the same exact words, well, it makes you feel like you're a part of something. Like a mini version of the world.

People seem to spend most of their time trying to stand out from everyone else, whether it's with their job performance, competing their way to the top, with the way they look, covering themselves with tattoos, or trying to be famous, so everyone else will know their name. But if you step way, way back and look at the Earth- it's just one big No Doubt concert! Everyone having the same euphoric experience at once. We may all look different and seem to have different problems and issues, but we're all the same. We all want one thing- to be happy. Whatever form or shape that path may take, it's all the same goal we're reaching for. And though it seems glamorous and enviable to stand out, there is something so much more special about being just one in a million. Like when I wrote about the evolution of man over time. We as individuals are just a drop in the bucket. But how wonderful that is! To be a part of something greater than yourself! So much cooler than just being "different".

There's a bridge in one of No Doubt's songs that has always intrigued me. It goes like this...

Once in a while I sit back and think about the planet. And, most of the time I trip on it. To kick back and think about how massive it all is, and how many others are on it.

It's from a song called "Different People" and if you've ever been to a No Doubt concert, you know that this is the song where Gwen demands everyone in the entire place to jump up and down at the same time. Watching twenty-three thousand people- in the pit, in the VIP section, in the seats, in the balcony, in the grass, on stage- jumping together is... well, moving, to say the least. If we could all just see ourselves as one tiny part of a gigantic working machine, maybe we wouldn't be so quick to point out "differences". The Earth is too big for that.

"You're on it. Me too."



No Doubt.