The One

"Home is wherever I'm with you..."

I wasn't sure where to begin with this one. So I'll keep it as brief as I can...Not because I want anyone thinking I'm taking this event lightly. Rather this one, out of all the memories in my life...all the moments...opened my eyes to my surroundings and jolted my heart back to a steady beat. I will forever be grateful for this day.

Mumford & Sons, Old Crow Medicine Show...Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. It's everything I never knew I could ever feel while watching live music. Out in the open. Marfa, TX is the place to be for open skies at night...for getting away from it all. For reconnecting with the part of your heart that was dead or didn't dare to hope.

I kept it together most of the day, even though I felt an unfamiliar tug in my chest...heaviness. By the time Edward Sharpe came on stage and under the big Texas night sky he started whistling the intro to "Home"...everything came to a halt. I took a swig off my....8th...9th...10th? Shiner and the universe seemed clear. I needed to make my own happiness. I was going to. I was tired of feeling dead. Of feeling afraid. Of not being Yari. Of bending over backwards doing things I hated doing so that others wouldn't get their feelings hurt. In the end, I can't make anyone happy unless I am. So, I have that moment embedded in my memory forever. Under the starry night, the purple lights on stage with 27 hippies singing and getting the rest of us pumped...I found a purpose.

Thank you, Marfa. Thank you, music. Thank you, you. I found life. I found love. I ached in the best way...and I've felt free ever since.

P.S. This is the trip I got my first tattoo done...a mark on my shoulder saying "I'm not asking for forever...just for the chance."

Here's to you, Home, for being with me everywhere I go: