Random Connect Points:
Reba's Stories

The place was hopping when we peeked out from the stage door. The mosh pit was packed with anxious fans waiting for the performers to take the stage. People in the audience were milling around with anticipation. Their necks craned for a quick glimpse of the performers entering the venue. The bartenders were busy. T-shirts on the merch table were selling briskly. But…this was no rock concert at a sold-out coliseum. It was a Sunday afternoon at the Vista’s Tin Roof for Freeway Music School’s winter student showcase. The mosh pit occupants were elementary school-age siblings of the performers. The audience was parents trying to get a glimpse of their kids who were about to go on stage. The bartenders were serving up more diet cokes than fireballs. The t-shirts were reasonably priced. Still, the air was electric - the same feeling you’d experience before any long-anticipated rock concert. Back in my day, we called this kind of event a recital. You take music lessons. You suffer ...

Year-end invariably brings nostalgia, gratitude, melancholy and appreciation as we reflect on what we’ve gained, lost, learned and shared over the past 12 months. Over the Christmas break, I spent a lazy morning reading back over the 40-something posts on this blog (no editing allowed, just reading). Back in early 2013, I started the blog as just a filing place for my personal writing. In April this year, I decided to tidy up the space a bit and push it out publicly. The name, Random Connect Points, seemed appropriate since a common theme of much of my writing centers around the connections forged through the randomness of life. While I was a little nervous about putting my writing out there so deliberately, I'm grateful for the random connect points resulting from sharing some of these pieces here. Until yesterday, I’d not looked at the analytics and am stunned by the number of readers who have stopped by.  (If you're so inclined and ...

Everyone has “that dream.” You know the one that lives in your heart rather than your head. For most of us, it’s a dream we logically know in our heads will never come true. But we keep it tucked in a place our hearts that holds on to possibilities - being an astronaut, wining a Pulitzer Prize, touring with the Grateful Dead. They are fun fantasies, but we don’t invest a lot of time pursuing them knowing the slim possibility of their reality. My dream is performing on the Grand Old Opry. I recognize there are several logistical roadblocks to this, starting with the fact I can’t sing. It’s not the “I sing softly in church” kind of can’t sing. It’s the “I only sing in the convertible with the top down to avoid offending others” kind of can’t sing. But it’s still fun to envision myself in front of hundreds of people … sassy cowboy boots, tight jeans, glittery top, pouffed up hair, guitar strapped around my neck, belting out with a voice that combines the best o...

House concert: (hous KON-sert) - A gathering of friends and neighbors in an intimate home setting to celebrate and support local musicians. OK … so I kind of made up that definition, but that does describe the concept. The practice of house concerts goes back generations to Appalachian traditions. Performers en route to another gig may have a free night so they would play at a host’s home along the way in exchange for a good meal and place to lay his head. The host would charge a small ticket price with proceeds going to the performer. So that’s what’s going on October 28 – a house concert featuring the fabulous Danielle Howle. And actually Danielle is kind of en route to another performance (she kicks off touring with the Indigo Girls out west starting November 11), and this will be her last hometown date before she takes off … so let’s give her a huge Columbia send-off. If you aren’t familiar with Danielle’s work , you need to be! Friend her on Facebook and follow her o...

The end of summer means cleaning out the beach leftovers from my car…the orphaned flip flop, a broken beach chair, fraying towels, empty sunscreen bottles. Then there's that LL Bean bag stuffed with books I had planned back in June to start, finish or re-read. A quick inventory tells me I've gotten at least halfway through almost every book. The same is true for a similar bag stuffed with yet more books I keep in the house. Plus, I also always have a book in my computer bag, bike backpack, car, gym bag and travel carry-on for those unanticipated moments where I can read a few pages. Almost every book is about words. If someone who loves all things about food is a foodie, I guess those of us who love words could be called a "wordie." Not much makes me happier than an hour just browsing in a bookstore - independent, not a chain, of course (this earlier blog post  makes the case for an indy bookstore in Columbia). I’ve developed a travel habit of seeking out loca...

“ The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. At such moments we are made for a magnificent joy that comes from outside ourselves. ” I found this quote while doing research for my recent trip to the Grand Canyon. It really resonated with me, so I pasted it into my journal wondering if I’d have this same reaction to seeing the Grand Canyon. A conference in Phoenix recently gave me the chance to fly out a couple of days early and experience this natural treasure. A Grand Canyon visit had always been a travel bucket list item, so being less than four hours away, it made sense to take an extra day. Two willing travel companions – my sister, Bootie, and her 18 year-old son, John – gave me good reason to make more than a day trip out of the visit. We had a great two-and-a-half days at the national park expe...

Note: I always enjoy writing when my professional interests can overlap with personal passions. This article appeared in the August issue of Midlands Anchor. What are the building blocks of a great community? The quick answer might be money, political will or progressive leadership. Certainly these elements are important. But in most cases, real community boils down to trust, connections and relationships. The arts and culture environment in a community can be a driving force in establishing and cultivating these connections. Communities that invest in a flourishing arts and culture scene are the communities that thrive across demographic and geographic lines in good times and in challenging times. These connections build the social capital necessary to create the community engagement that drives economic growth. Just as a business needs an ongoing investment of financial capital to be successful and grow, a community needs an ongoing investment of social capital to b...