That Time Bob Dylan P!ssed Me Off + Letting Go of Anger

Simon and I LOVE live music gigs. Our love of music has always been something that drew us to each other and even inspired us to move to Memphis. Home of the Blues. Birthplace of Rock & Roll. We have SO many great memories from our time in Memphis.

My grudge with Bob Dylan is loosely related to Memphis. We were still living in Michigan and often looked for good music gigs near our small town Midland or in the Detroit area. We were happy to road trip 1.5-2 hours to Detroit for a good gig. We often booked a hotel or stayed with Detroit area friends & family.

Bob Dylan was coming to the Fox Theater in Detroit and we snapped up some tickets to see a music legend while we still could. I wouldn’t say I was a huge Dylan fan, but I loved the major hits: Like A Rolling Stone (good sing-along), Blowin’ In The Wind (reminds me of my hippie parents), Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (seriously thought this was a Guns N’ Roses original when I was a teen in the 80s ). It had to be a good gig from a rock & roll legend, right?

The day of the Bob Dylan concert in Detroit was the day B.B. King died. God rest his beautiful talented bluesman heart . Simon and I were both very emotional. We had been traveling to Memphis and Clarksdale (the small town in Mississippi famous for The Crossroads where Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil to become a guitar master) for years. We had seen B.B. King perform outdoors at Pine Knob in Michigan and at the House of Blues in Chicago.

We had a trip to Memphis and Clarksdale already planned for a few weeks after the Dylan concert and even adjusted our trip plans to drive to B.B.’s museum in his hometown of Indianola, MS, where he was very recently buried. I brought a condolence card for B.B.’s family and was in tears when we handed it to the staff.

B.B. King is a legend for a reason. He is one of the best blues performers, best guitar players, best musicians I have ever seen. Sooooo… I was thinking of B.B.’s passing that very day as we were road tripping down to Detroit. All of the radio stations were paying tribute to him. I was teary-eyed and thinking Bob Dylan would probably be impacted and pay tribute to B.B., as all of Rock & Roll is rooted in and developed from the Blues music that B.B. mastered. We got to the beautiful historic Fox Theater in downtown Detroit, had great seats only about 6 rows back, and settled in for the gig.

BOB DYLAN SIDE STORY #1: I was in my megadosing Vitamin C phase, per Dr. Andrew Saul’s awesome natural healing books like Doctor Yourself. I bought Vitamin C in big bulk 1000 pill containers and took anywhere from 3-10 grams per day to boost my immune system and prevent & reverse all sorts of things. I was taking a few other supplements and didn’t want to pack all of the bottles for a quick weekend in Detroit. So I counted out what I wanted for a weekend and threw them all in a Ziploc bag in my purse. Didn’t even think about it and showed up to a concert where I had to pass through security. They searched my purse and found a bag full of pills! I swore up and down it was just vitamins and I needed them for the weekend. I was in my 40s and it cracked me up they thought I was trying to bring drugs in to get myself and apparently 20 other people popping pills for the gig. They confiscated all of my vitamins. I had to hand them over to get into the concert.

I was dead wrong on what I was expecting from Mr. Bob Dylan. Ole Bob did the entire concert on the day B.B. King died WITHOUT SAYING ONE WORD about B.B., his contribution to the foundation of Bob’s music, or his passing. In fact, he never said one word to the whole crowd through the whole gig. He came out, played his damn set list, did an obligatory encore with Like A Rolling Stone, and off the stage he went. I don’t think he even said goodnight. Did not acknowledge Detroit, Michigan fans, and definitely no tribute to B.B.

What a dick. I was pissed! Yeah, yeah, his music was good, we got to see this supposed legend, but his personality and effort rubbed me the wrong way. For a LOOOONNNGGG time. I told everyone who asked about the concert what a jerk I thought he was for not mentioning B.B. and not even acknowledging his audience. I posted my less than stellar review on social media with our concert pics. You let me down, Bob. You let me down.

BOB DYLAN SIDE STORY #2: Simon’s Mum lived in a little town in the Scottish Highlands at this time. His grandparents lived there and the whole family has wonderful memories of Nethy Bridge, Scotland. His grandparents even lived in a house that had the River Spey running through the back of the property. The river famous for Speyside whiskey made in the region. That area of Scotland has a special place in our hearts and for everyone in Simon’s family. We visited often and Mum took us for a hike one day and told us that Bob Dylan owned a huge estate in tiny little Nethy Bridge. There was a nature path that the whole community was maintaining and they wanted to make some upgrades to a bridge over a creek. It would have been much easier if the path could go through a tiny little edge of Bob Dylan’s property. They approached him about the plan and… he said NO. They had to reroute the whole thing and spend more to not touch his property. See… total dick.

Fast forward to this past holiday season and me realizing I have to let my Bob Dylan vendetta go. Two things converged. I stayed with my Aunt Ruth just before Thanksgiving and we had lots of time together to chat and catch up. We talked about my childhood and one of the topics was how she realized that even from a very young age… I was an expert at holding a grudge. What an odd thing to remember about me, but I knew it was true. I remembered everything and loved to stay mad when things didn’t go my way.

The second event was Simon and I seeing an ad for a new Bob Dylan rockumentary coming out in theaters. Music films are one of the few genres we both love and will actually go to a theater for. The trailer looked really good and he was excited about a movie we could go see together over the holidays. I told him I was still pissed at Bob Dylan. Simon chuckled, looked right at me, and told me “You should probably let that shit go”.

And just like that a light bulb went off in my head. He was right. It was almost a decade I had been holding my Bob Dylan grudge. As with all anger, resentment, and unforgiveness, it wasn’t really affecting Bob, just me. I knew I could let it go and probably even go enjoy that movie with Simon. Who knows? Maybe I will learn something about Bob that helps me see why he is the way he is. I am open to it.

Aunt Ruth and Simon both know that I am a kind and loving person. I can just get a little stuck and set in my ways at times. Can’t we all? In this week’s mindset tip, I will share more about some tools I have found helpful to release anger & resentment. Freeing ourselves to live with more fun, happiness, love, joy, and peace.

I forgive you Bob Dylan.

This Week’s Shot of MINDSET

I referred back to the great Radical Acceptance workbook that I used last year for some tips on letting go of anger. Lo and behold, there was a whole week of journaling exercises all around the topic of Savage Forgiveness. I did a lot of journaling on forgiveness in different areas of my life. (Forgiving Bob Dylan wasn’t in my work from last year.)

The advice and journaling ideas may help you with anger you may be holding on to or areas in your life where forgiveness may feel healing.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
– The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Some ideas to write about or even just think about to help process hurt and anger and move toward forgiveness:

Write about the situation, your emotions, your struggle and if you chose to forgive or not. How did your choice impact you?
Do you notice any patterns or consequences from holding on to anger, grudges, or resentment?
What steps can you take to practice more forgiveness in your life?
Think about times throughout your week when you may need to forgive someone, may need forgiveness, or may need to forgive yourself.
What does forgiveness mean to you and how may it benefit you in your life?
What strategies can you use to bring more empathy, compassion, love, and forgiveness into your life?
Reflect on any realizations you have about the nature and power of forgiveness.

Often I give you tons of strategies to make health & mindset improvements in your life. This week, with some reflection and/or writing, I know the strategies that are perfect for you will come to you to make progress in this area of your life.

This Week’s Shot of HEALTH

On the health front, this week’s tip is something that makes me HAPPY, which is the opposite of anger & resentment. Making baked oatmeal. I have been making this a lot this winter. The recipe I am sharing is completely adaptable. You can change the fruits, berries, add in nuts or seeds, add in a little natural sweetener, different spices or extracts. Make it your custom oatmeal.

HEALTHY BAKED OATMEAL RECIPE

I love making a pan of baked oatmeal. In the 8×8 pan, I cut these into 9 bars and have 1 or 2 for breakfast or for a snack. It’s a great portable meal or snack. I just wrap one up and bring a napkin as it can crumble a little. These bars are easily eaten by hand on the go. At home, I heat one up in my little toaster oven to have a warm breakfast. I often top it with some healthy homemade soy yogurt, a bit of cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey, date syrup, or maple syrup. I like the added drizzle of sweetness.

I especially love a recipe that I can bake once and have for breakfast all week. Then I can make a different version for another week. You can use this recipe all year long. I added leftover fresh cranberries and slivered almonds for a great Cranberry Almond version in January. I love the combo of frozen wild blueberries, walnuts, and vanilla or lemon zest. Sweet dark cherries, almonds, and vanilla. Peaches, pecans, and cinnamon. Frozen fruits and berries work great and are easy to have on hand. The combinations are endless.

I may even sneak a baked oatmeal bar into the theater when I go see the Bob Dylan movie with Simon.

If you are interested in using the power of the mind to uplevel your life, I share mindset expertise every week, along with fun & insightful stories from my own life path from 80s hair band superfan to chemical engineer to health & mindset coach (what a journey!).

You will also see plenty of health promoting tips and recipes because I am blown away by the power of intermittent fasting + a healthy diet to prevent & reverse just about any health concern Mindset plays a big part in health and healing too, the power of the Mind Body connection is pretty mind blowing.