Bruce Springsteen, for me, represents making the best out of what feels like the worst.
Springsteen represents my mom coming to pick me up from long days of classes at a place where I felt like I didn’t belong, welcoming me back into the safety of her little vehicle that always had E Street Radio playing. Each time I entered into her car, I was coming back home to the safe and loving arms of a mother, and the familiar, grounding sounds of the Boss. Each time I had a panic attack on a long road trip and felt claustrophobic from sitting still within a small vehicle for too long, Springsteen’s sounds were big and familiar enough to calm me, re-center me, and remind me of the bigness of the world outside the vehicle, where there was plenty of air to breathe – and in turned, helped my body to remember how to breathe normally again.
Springsteen represents finding hope when all feels hopeless – whether out in the world or inside my ailed mind – and remembering that we will always find the rising out of our badlands.
Springsteen represents common bonds and universal struggles – where people from all walks of life have found an unlikely companion in the music of a white Catholic Jersey boy.
Springsteen represents making art from the mundane and the grind of every day life, keeping ourselves grounded and humble in the reminder of our strange humanity – while also showing us how brightly we can live within it.
Springsteen represents searching for love, and then glorying in finding it and holding onto it for dear life, all within the beautiful power of togetherness – making a vow, like I sang to my beloved husband at our wedding, to create the best world we can, and carry each other to the land of hope and dreams where all are welcome and loved.
Springsteen represents never giving up on beauty and goodness, and never giving up on yourself – always believing in yourself enough to create something wonderful when all appeared to end… but you begin again.