Being Present at the Stewart Park Music Festival and Taking Action as a Result.

In the last year, I have been working on strengthening my ability to enjoy the present moment and be more spontaneous, at the same time. I started by first approaching this task just like I would if I wanted to meditate. I thought that if I put myself in a quiet, peaceful place, I'd have no choice but to focus on what's happening in "the right now". 

I defined "being present" as paying close attention to every little detail that was going on around me and making an effort to actually acknowledge what I was experiencing, simultaneously.

I saw the act of being present from an observers perspective and a record keeper's perspective. I thought that if I (somehow) made a record or a notation of my experiences, even if it was nothing more than a mental note, I was putting my energy into what was going on in the moment. These activities (observing and recording) replaced my urge to try and relate to an experience based on my memories of what I had already experienced in life, in the past. Plus, it stopped me from missing an experience entirely because I was too distracted with anticipation, thinking about "what could" occur in the future. 

To me, being present meant that my only jobs were to observe and record what was currently happening moment by moment.

I do think that this is an effective strategy.

However, I have discovered that the "real magic" happens in this process, when you become aware that you are actually being present, know that you are taking in what's happening around you and physically engaging in the experience with some of your own actions at the same time.

I think of the process sort of like lucid dreaming, but while you are awake.

You are aware of what's happening while you physically engage in the experience and add your energy to the mix of the ecosystem you currently find yourself in.

Most recently, @knarly327 decided to take a drive to a bustling town called Perth. Perth isn't too far from Canada's  capital city, Ottawa, Ontario. The drive is a pleasant one. The road to Perth meanders along the countryside and is flanked on either side by a collection of small lakes which make up the Rideau area. It's a 2 hour drive by car from our house so it's a trip that we normally make about once a year in the summer.

On the weekend, Perth hosted its annual Stewart Park Music Festival. It was a free event but donations were being accepted and encouraged.

The whole town becomes involved in the festivities and many of the side-streets (which feed into the main street) are closed to accommodate vendors and pedestrians.  This year, there were 3 large stages positioned around the town and a full roster of 20+ headlines who preformed at various times through-out the entire afternoon. The two of us thought that a free concert provided additional motivation for us to make the effort to get ourselves to Perth sooner than we normally would have gone and I am so glad that we did because there were phenomenal Buskers on many of the closed street corners.

It seemed that these Buskers just showed up to contribute to the festival, intuitively. They were not advertised anywhere around the town, nor were their names listed on any of the festival's web-pages.

We spent the afternoon taking our time to wandered around the town. We window shopped, talking to vendors about their wares and we made our way to each of the stages to listen to the performers who had been given stage time. I practiced just taking things in and being present during this beautiful day in a quaint town park, in the summer. 

The conditions were perfect.

Then we discovered the Ivory Quintet. They are normally a 5 person, 5 piece folk/rock band, but on the day we were entertained by them, they were a trio. We would listen to them for a few minutes, then go and explore another street but we kept coming back to them because they were such good performers.

Have a listen for yourselves. I captured 3 videos of them doing their thing completely in their zone, on a street corner.

The first 2 videos are cover songs and the 3rd video is an original to the band. (I uploaded these to my own YouTube channel on July 17, 2017.)

This one is "Wagon Wheel" originally written by Bob Dylan in 1973. Then 25 years later, more verses were add by Ketch Secor. Then in 2013, the song was re-worked by Darius Rucker and reach triple platinium status in 2014 when it reach number one on the country music charts.

This one is a folk song called General Taylor. More recently, it was made popular again by the band Great Big Sea, but originally it was consider a "chanteys" that were used to help fisherman and sailors pace their work, while at sea. It's an old song and has been covered countless times.  In fact, I could not verify who originally wrote it. So, if you know, please do share.

The last video is an original to the Ivory Quintet and I thought it was fantastic.

So fantastic, that I stopped observing and recording so that I could take a knee to scribble a note on the back of one of my business cards. 

I then took this card, along with $10 and I put it into their busking suitcase.

These acts took the practice of being present (for me) to a whole new level because I was so taken by the talent that I was witnessing that I just wanted to help these people get started in their lives.

I thought it would be so cool if they would join Steemit and gain exposure for their music around the world.

The Ivory Quintet does have its own YouTube channel and Facebook page, so my plan was to send them a message which will include a link to this post, the links for the videos I have taken of their street performances and an offer to explain a little bit more about Steemit and the opportunity that exists for them to participate.

It will be so great when talented people can make a full-time living from their art, craft or music and not have to keep juggling 2 or 3 jobs in the process, so that they can "do" what they love. I think Steemit can make this a reality for anyone who wants to use it as a tool to promote themselves. It is the definition of empowerment.

I love being present. It is so rewarding.

I welcome your comments and invite you to follow me on my journey.

~ Rebecca Ryan