Lessons being learned at Rothbury music festival

Sat, Jul 5, 2008

Readers following my blog on the Rothbury Festival at www.grandhaventribune.com/blogs know the festival's positives and negatives thus far. They understand that it takes 20 minutes to walk from camp to festival grounds, and they know that the scenery is nothing short of surreal. They know about my tent neighbors from Kansas City who helped put up my tent. They know there's something in the air.

But what they haven't read in my descriptions of Rothbury is the level of coexistence between everyone here. The counterculture is mixing with the culture in ways unheard of before, and there aren't the same territorial boundaries between the two groups that caused a schism in the United States 40 years before my generation.

The following are things I've learned from only two days here at this musical, artistic and spiritual odyssey called the Rothbury Festival. While some lessons are obvious, it's unclear how important they truly are until they are tested and exercised to the extreme, and I wouldn't have respected them as much without attending this event.

Lesson One: Love thy neighbor. My tent borders my neighbors to the north by nine inches, touches the neighboring tent to the west, and rests three inches from my neighbor to the south. My setup is not unique; this is a common scene for acres and acres. I've walked among various campsites for hours, and I have yet to see any sort of skirmish between two tents. It makes me wonder how much life would improve if we could just learn to respect the people living around us.

Lesson Two: Be more patient in life — with everything. I left for Rothbury from my home in Norton Shores at 6:45 a.m., and did not get parked until after 9 a.m. Yet again, the people in the endless line of cars down stretching threw the town of Rothbury remained calm and patient. These people expressed no frustration, didn't flash any middle fingers, and I didn't see a single traffic incident.

My car overheated twice — once in the line for security, and once in the line to get to the campsite. These are two critical junctures in the process of getting settled into the campsite, and yet everyone around me was as friendly as humanly possible. Be patient with people, and your health and stress level will be rewarded.

Lesson Three: Flexibility. I had made a preliminary schedule of bands I wanted to see, things I wanted to do and places I wanted to go. Throughout the two days, the schedule hasn't been followed one bit.

The scene is so vastly overwhelming. It's hard to be on time for Snoop Dogg when there is so much going on around you. I could easily take the "normal" way out and freak out, stare at my watch and eventually let my head explode. If Rothbury has taught me one thing, it's that every once in a while, it's nice to simply chill.

Lesson Four: Music is an escape. I posted this in the blog late last night and it bears repeating. Everyone I have met so far has been completely out of touch with society for the past two days. They feel it is a reason for coming in the first place. No one knows about the double murder in Grand Haven or the shooting at Nexes in Roosevelt Park. No one wanted to talk about it, either. Their minds were focused on music, friends and whatever was in the air they were breathing.

They weren't doing anything wrong, they were simply enjoying their life. It became painfully obvious that those who regularly attend weekend festivals and stay out of the mainstream are much, much happier people than the rest of us. They refuse to surround themselves with the negativity which injects its way into our lives on a regular basis.

The fourth lesson is one we can all learn from. While it's nice to stay involved in the community and certainly keep up with current events, it's imperative to the human soul to have a (healthy) escape. All people need a device that allows them to forget about the hassles of everyday life and enjoy our time on earth as purely as possible.

There are concerts to be heard, and there is scenery to be seen. There are people to meet, and there is unusual food to eat. But most importantly, there are lessons to be learned. As I reflect on the last two days, it's not so much an awesome show from Modest Mouse or a nap in a hammock that I find my mind focusing on. I find my mind focusing on how terribly wrong I have been prioritizing what I worry about, and how I view life. I find my mind focusing on how much I've learned from Rothbury.

And it wasn't even on the schedule.

On the Net:

www.grandhaventribune.com/blog/entertainment/