Over the last few years, I’ve had a lot of people say things
to me like: “Wow. You’re really
interesting.” Or “What an interesting life you’ve had.”. I have to disagree. I always say to them “I don’t have to be interesting.
I just surround myself with interesting people.”
It’s true that I have some good stories. I’ve seen some pretty cool things. I’ve had adventures and interacted with no
shortage of unusual characters. But none
of those things required any real effort on my part. I was simply along for the ride on the
coattails of far more interesting folks and reap the rewards of cool proximity. Maybe I’m Cool-Adjacent – some of the perks,
none of the pressure.
As a child, my brothers’ cool jobs as musicians put me in
the path of some really fabulous characters.
Bill Monroe didn’t quite get why an 8 year old girl wanted a tour of his
bus, but I got one anyway. Because I was
at the right place at the right time. I
took naps under the keyboards of a cat named Mr. Flex (come on, what’s cooler
than that?), while my brother rehearsed with a 70s-era funk band in a dark
alley studio in East St. Louis. I’m
pretty sure I got some of their cool just through osmosis.
As my life marched on, I certainly wandered into some unique
scenarios and came out the other side with a story or two. Those experiences shaped my view and
perspective and allowed me to absorb it all risk-free. Cool-Adjacent perks have gotten me great
seats at shows, earned me some street cred with my kids (their mom’s brother
got them Katy Perry crew shirts!) and we’ve stumbled into some pretty memorable
places – all while cruising down the middle of the road.
People often mock the Middle of the Road. What a boring place, right? I say there’s no better place to be.
Think about it literally:
when driving in the middle of the road, you have freedom. Freedom to drift from one side to the other
if that’s where you’d rather be at the moment.
But you also have a clearer vision of what’s up ahead and what’s happening
around you so you can react accordingly.
Figuratively, life’s not so different. From here in the middle of the road, I can
see a hasty or stupid act and view the consequences. I’m always learning from mistakes. They just don’t have to be mine. From the middle, I can see an opportunity for
a detour or a route I hadn’t thought of myself.
Through these Middle of the Road travels, I’ve had a pretty
good time! The Middle of the Road has
taken me on career paths, vacations, and unplanned adventures that exposed me
to celebrities and athletes, to CEOs and Winos, to philosophical Regular Joes,
to talented musicians and broken and damaged but lovely people from all walks
of life. I’ve learned from all of
them. What to Do. What Not to Do. How to Survive. How to Find Humor in Everything . No matter how dire a situation may seem,
there’s always a lesson. There’s always
a laugh.
The byproduct of this Middle of the Road Life, is that I’ve
recorded enough data from the journey to be able to relate in some way to
nearly everyone I encounter and I’m not intimidated by unfamiliar groups of
people.
A much younger version of myself could not say this. Friends have asked how I can do this. The answer’s not so complicated. I know a little about a lot of things. Rarely through hard knocks or personal
experience – I’ve simply paid attention from my vantage point in the center of
it all.
At a party or gathering, I’m rarely the first to begin a
conversation, but no matter what direction one goes, I can almost always chime
in with a relatable tidbit. This often
leads to being asked who/what/why/how I might know such things. The answer is that I had an interesting
experience with an interesting person in an interesting place during an
interesting time.
At some point, someone is likely to tell me that I’m
interesting. But I’m not. I don’t have to be. I just surround myself with interesting people. I’m Interesting By Proxy.
