Meeting Adam was a remarkable experience and increased my already rather large appreciation for him. I often study Adam, and though this probably seems weird, sometimes the way he relates to people reminds me of how it is for me, as a teacher, in my classroom with my students.
I work hard (at my best) to prepare a classroom environment that is stimulating and creative and warm; I put a lot of thought into every part of creating that space and the atmosphere that lives within it. I prepare lessons that are my own "babies," lol. But what
I love about teaching (again, at its best) is the synergy that then happens when the
students come and engage and get excited about learning- when I can see the results of their excitement in their eyes. That gives me adrenaline; it feels so good and makes me,
in turn, catch fire and be my best, and the circle continues. I get the synergy thing. I love
my students for giving me that gift. I get why Adam loves his passionate fans who are excited about what he is doing at his concerts.
As a teacher, watching my "crowd," I have always been able to feel the energy students bring into the room. I can feel who comes in anxious or excited. I can feel sadness in a corner. Part of what I do is try to join with students and pull them into a collective energy that is good and is on my side. I'm not sure how that happens, but it stems from preparing and creating for them, and then from loving and accepting them. When that energy happens it is nurturing and revitalizing. I think Adam is good at this, and that is
kind of what I felt from Adam when I met him during his radio promo in SLC and when he
talked to our group.
I believe Adam when he says he wants his music to be perfect for his fans. I believe that when he prepares and imagines his music, he imagines live concerts and his audiences, and that he plans out what he can do to create the space where magic happens-where we can fully realize the power of the music that he brings us, where we can be as excited as he is about it, where we make him even more excited about it by being engaged in our shared experience together. That gives him adrenaline and nurtures him the way my
classroom sometimes does for me.
I met Adam at one of his more relaxed radio promos. It was evening by then, and the room we waited in was dark and mellow and chill. When Adam first walked into it, I felt like he was really tired. It was his third radio promo of the day. I felt from him the type
of energy I have after a long day when I begin my seventh period, the last class I teach. But once he felt the very real love and interest of the fans there to see him, he seemed to gain energy and adrenaline, like I do in my best period seven experiences, and I could
almost tangibly feel that energy warm and grow and become bright and luminescent as he
answered our questions and connected with us, both individually and as an audience. it was magical for me, and I will always feel lucky to have attended that show.
At the end of it, he seemed relaxed, warm and happy. When I spoke to him during the
picture taking process he was very real and genuine and thankful, and I felt completely comfortable and seen. Perhaps partly because of that, and because of the immense talent and beauty I had just been intimately a part of in that small room listening to his "otherworldly" voice, at the same time that he felt so very human and real, he also felt "otherworldly" in a truly inspirational way.
Even my daughter, not a stan, felt it as she connected and joked with him. "I have never heard any one sing like that without a mike," she said, artlessly genuine. "Your voice is incredible."
"Thank you," he said, looking directly right into her eyes in the most real way. "I appreciate you saying that."
Artlessly, honestly genuine.
I came away from that meeting loving him more than ever.