Going out in LA makes for good material

Author: Max Simon
Date Posted: 05-02-2008 10:34 PM

I found out earlier this week that one of my favorite musicians, Eric Hutchinson, was in town opening for Blind Melon at a venue called El Rey. I'm a big fan of his and really didn't want to miss the opportunity to see him live but I am also heading into teach a two day Out of Your Mind Immersion this weekend. It's going to be wonderfuly intense so I was a little conflicted about whether or not to go.

"I'm young. I've got stamina. I'm going to push through my hesitation and head out!" I thought to myself.

"But wait a second, I don't have anyone to go with" my mind thought. "Are you really going to go out in big bad LA all by yourself?"

Yes I am.

So I cruised over to the spot (solo) just before Eric hit the stage. Nice. Perfect timing.

As I danced and sang to my favorite songs, I suddenly became uncomfortable as I realized that the entire place was standing dead still. Was I the only shaking it?

Ummm....yes I was.

I did catch the occasional head bob, but it was usually quickly followed by an uncomfortable "did anyone see that" look in their eye.

Hmmmmm....ok, maybe this just isn't their type of music. Fair enough. So I made the shift and went back to enjoying myself, singing and dancing to my own beat.

Once Eric finished, I decided to stick around for a bit and check out Blind Melon. As I stood there observing the crowd, I noticed a couple of interesting things.

1) people in LA can drink...a lot and very quickly.
2) people in LA don't like to talk to other people in LA.
3) people in LA have good clothes and bad posture.

Interesting....right?

From the time I parked in my spot on the floor, I caught the eye of this cute brunette. After exchanging a few smiles, she came over to say hi. We chatted for a bit and as expected (in LA), she asked me what I do. I told her that I teach meditation and am in LA to make it cool. It was after that sentence that she paused, stepped back, and said:

"What are you on?"

"Excuse me?" I said as I chuckled.

"What are you on?" she repeated in a dead serious tone. "Are you trippin', high, what?"

I looked her square in the eye and with a smile on my face, said "life."

That was too much for her. I could tell from the look in her eye that me being sober and that naturally comfortable was making her downright uncomfortable. So she decided to head back to her friends to take a shot of Jager, soon followed by her dropping her drink on the floor.

Blind Melon came on a few moments later and because angry music isn't really my thing, I took off. But I'm glad I went out. I got to hear some great music, I got a good hit of where a part of the world is still at, and I came home with some excellent material for a blog. All good.

Disclaimer: I totally recognize that my observations about the people in LA don't apply to everyone in LA. It only applies to the people in Hollywood. HAHA!! Lighten up people.....

Comments

ClayChaszeyka said:

I have often been sucked in to the negativity that LA can bring out. It's difficult not to judge the people judging you. I have recently chosen to make a conscious effort not to be conscious of their self-consciousness.

We live in an insecure city of wannabes. Everyone wants to be somewhere else - a different job, a different body, a different car... It makes for some strong insecurity.

That is why there is such strong focus on image in LA. It's all about looking like you are happy in your current position, although most people seem to be unhappy when you break down the facade.

May 22, 2008 2:33 PM

About Max Simon

Growing up, I was surrounded by the some of the world’s most respected teachers of spirituality, consciousness, and mind-body medicine. As I evolved, I was ingrained with the tools of awareness and trained on how to transmit this knowledge to the world around me. At the age of 22, I joined the world-renowned Chopra Center for Wellbeing and became the youngest meditation, yoga and Ayurveda teacher in their history. As someone who could integrate ancient wisdom into modern times, I spent the next four years traveling the world alongside Deepak Chopra M.D. and my father David Simon M.D. teaching thousands of people meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda at their prestigious workshops and events. In 2007, I stepped back and realized that the modern world would not be open to learning these valuable tools unless it was brought to them in a different package. With the intention of giving meditation a fresh new look and feel, I founded The selfcentered Tour, a meditation inspired revolution for authenticity seekers. Through our events, workshops, Awareness Architects Teacher Trainings, gear, CORE Team, and content driven website, our vision is to inspire one million people to spend time each day with their eyes closed tapping into their silent inner-self.