What Bono taught me this week

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A COUPLE nights ago, my wife and a couple of our friends made the drive from Nashville to Atlanta to see Muse and U2 play in the Georgia Dome. It was my first time seeing U2 live and it was an experience I will never forget. Ever. And I just might be ruined for future concerts because this one set the bar so. incredibly. high.

I had heard stories from several friends who saw them in Chicago about the “spaceship” stage that was the centerpiece of the concert. They told me how massive and mindblowing it was (they were right). They told me about Bono’s laser suit and how moving the entire experience was. But, hearing about it and being there are…well, you get it.

As I was looking through the pictures I snapped of the night, it dawned on me how much I had not only been moved by the concert, but by how much U2 challenged me as an artist. I walked out of the Georgia Dome convinced that, quite literally, anything is possible with enough vision, heart, and talent.

1. Take the limits off.

There will always be a lower road, an easier way of doing anything and everything. That’s OK if your goal is blend in with the ocean of people who are doing just enough to get by and no more. Take the limits off. Believe. Let everything inside you soar with the possibility that there really aren’t any boundaries. Not real ones, anyway.

2. Lose yourself in your story…

…because until you do, no one else will. Among the things that stood out to me at the concert, one of the clearest was how the band, especially Bono, lost themselves in the music. There were times that I honestly thought Bono was in his own world and had forgotten about the rest of us. Eyes closed, hand to his chest, he would sing of love and redemption and hope (and streets that have no name, of course) as if he believed it more than anyone else on the planet. That was inspiring, and I found myself wishing I was that passionate.

3. The shortest distance between human hearts is a story.

Whether it’s a song, a poem, or a novel, nothing moves mountains like story. I mean, think about it. How is it possible for an uninterested person to go from silent apathy to tears in the space of a 3-minute song? There’s something mysterious about the power of story and shared experience that I don’t think we’ll fully understand. Perhaps it’s because the common Thread is something “other” than us. Just maybe.

4. Blow their minds.

Let’s face it: the spaceship stage wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t necessary for U2 to spend the reported $750,000-800,000 a night to put on their show. But, they did. They did it for the fans. They did it to blow our minds with something so imaginative and inspiring that we’d look back on it and say “remember when…” There’s a good lesson there and it comes along with taking the limits off. Blow your readers’ minds. Make it your aim to torque their brains into a figure eight. If you do that you’ve done your job.

So, friends, be inspired. Create. And if you get the chance, go see the concert because you won’t be disappointed.

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