Friday night I saw the incomparable Amanda Palmer in concert at the Birch North Park Theater. It was one of the best live shows I've seen. Fantastic.
I find Amanda incredibly inspiring. I love that she has been brave enough to simply make art and find a way to live from it. I wish I had been as brave and focused as she seems to have been. Of course no one is as together as their image, and she often alludes to her disbelief that like-minded young women see her as a person who has "figured it out"--but there is no denying her commitment to art and striving for personal artistic authenticity.
In her song "In My Mind" she explores that sense of striving to be "better" that I think so many people--maybe particularly women--feel throughout life. And the discovery at the end, that she is exactly who she wants to be is a place I want to reach. Perfection is impossible, but if we're doing work we find meaningful, the perfect details aren't important.
