School of Kravitz

It never occurred to me before, but when I think about it, Lenny Kravitz was my life.

In one of those twists of fate, I came to spend time with a woman who actually KNEW him! She didn’t know what an obsession I had with him, and I was hoping she wouldn’t notice that inside I was having a fan freak out!!

I wasn’t even able to dwell on the utter coolness of my now closer connection to Lenny because I was completely engrossed in a massive life change.

My husband, two children and I were moving from New York to California… like in a week. I had a gazillion things swirling around in my head: enrolling the kids in new schools, arranging for our car to be shipped, planning new carpet installation in our house across the country, and of course packing up our house of 6 years.

As a stay at home mom the majority of packing fell on my shoulders.

Every day for about a month, I set a task of packing up a certain number of boxes per day, methodically dividing the undertaking over a spread of several months so it wouldn’t seem like an insurmountable task.

Yes, I am a rigidly organized sometimes. But I assure you its the only way a totally neurotic stress case like me can deal, without having panic attacks everyday.

On one of my packing days I decided to listen to my Lenny albums, having just been reminded of my love for him. As I listened, it started to become clear to me, that I had a deeper connection to his songs than I had realized.

Each one was connected to a story, or tied to a feeling from a period in my life. Just hearing the song enveloped me in a moment in time.

I was 13 when his first album ‘Let Love Rule’ came out. I really wasn’t into contemporary music as much as my friends were. They would spend hours at the music store looking at, and picking out albums.

They all had cd collections. I may have owned 1 or 2 cd’s, and I probably got them as gifts.  But I felt an instant connection when I heard, and then saw Lenny Kravitz.

In  1991, his second album ‘Mama Said’ came out. By this time I was 15 years old. I not only bought the cd, but I played it over and over and over.

It was the soundtrack to my life. ‘Fields of Joy’, ‘It ain’t over til it’s over’, ‘Stand by my woman’. Most of my memories at this time have a Lenny Kravitz song playing in the background.

With him I felt joy, sorrow, love. As a teenager in the midst of developing my identity and navigating an often angst filled life, his music informed a great many of my experiences.

When I was about 17, I started dating a boy that worked at a local store we visited regularly. He was older. It was a big deal. I really didn’t date in Highschool. I just wasn’t what the guys at my school were into. But somehow this happened.

I remember we were in his truck on a date, going somewhere, I don’t remember where, when ‘Heaven Help’ came on. It felt like Lenny was singing just for us in this moment. You know those sappy, sweeping emotions you feel as an adolescent?  This song was everything I was feeling at that moment.

His was the first concert I ever attended. It was with my cousin, who everyone said looked like Lisa Bonet at the time.

It was also at UCLA where I later attended college. The experience was like nothing I’d ever seen or felt before. The stadium was dark, with bright flickering lights. The music reverberated off the walls and through my body. There was a collective pulse that beat through all of us. We were all connected to each other and to Lenny.

It was a completely electrifying feeling to be surrounded by so many people who had the same love for him. Our seats were so far away I could barely see him, but he was there. I was in the same room with him. We were all together.

Clearly there were lots of people who liked him, otherwise he wouldn’t have been successful, right? But why were he and his music such a big deal to me? I had never really thought about it. Until now.

What I realized is that I’ve always felt a kinship with Lenny Kravitz. Like we had a special connection.

He was a part of MY tribe. Only someone who had shared the experience of growing up mixed could understand what its like to straddle two very different races and cultures.

I was in the depths of figuring it all out it, coupled with the usual angst of youth. He had made it through and was amazing. I felt pride. Pride that I was a ‘sister’ in his tribe. He offered a possibility to me that I now see was essential during those years. He made my future limitless. I knew that if he could do amazing things, it was possible for me too.

For someone who was never really that into music, I marvel that it was music that awaked the realization in me that ‘Fantastic’, was most definitely an option for me.