Namaste to Meet You

I still remember stepping foot onto the elevator. An elevator that was also holding Noah Cyrus and her father Billy Ray Cyrus. The feeling of oneness was overwhelming. We were all in this small space waiting for it to carry us to the next place. I felt special standing next to them, just having them know I existed in the same vicinity. Growing up, I didn’t have opportunities to meet celebrities, or rather my parents wanted me to experience fun things, like concerts, but they weren’t willing to pay an arm and a leg to get closer than nosebleed seats, let alone backstage passes. I loved musical artists. They inspired me, had this special talent I long for. No matter who it was, I turned them into these bigger people, people who had a bigger life purpose. I just wanted to be in their presence, to be able to experience them firsthand, if only for a few fleeting moments. I wanted to feel bigger than myself and for them to know I existed as well. That’s why anytime you see me at a meet and greet, I usually have something for the artists, a small gift, or something original for them to sign like a polaroid. I’m constantly trying to stand out to them, make it a memorable experience for them, as well. =I think that’s why I always want to do the same for Jacob. I know we grew up similarly, going to concerts, but having to use binoculars to see who we look up to clearly. Squint one eye, hold it there for a few, before taking them down by your side and staring at the jumbo screens the rest of the night. Having experienced the thrill of celebrity interaction, I just assumed my husband would want the same out of his musically inclined idols. So, I would surprise him with meet and greets, but really he cared more about the tickets. He just wanted to hear them play live, to experience their music firsthand, more than he wanted to meet them. To him, having people line up and meet someone is awkward for the musician or celebrity. They meet all these people they don’t care about and make small talk. It really threw me when his mind wasn’t blown by meeting people, but it also made me more grounded about it all. Now, when we attend meet and greets together, we try to make the experience fun for the artist, make it feel more normal, like we acknowledge that we are all living in the same world, just in different capacities. Jacob has made me appreciate the normalcies of celebrities, and even though you may not be able to tell, he’s brought me down to a level closer to reality when meeting them. I feel like they see the cool in me just as I respect the cool in them, like a morphed form of namaste.