In any public area there exists an arena
where those who have both the creative spark
and also the drive to perform
can show an audience what
calls out to be heard within their core...
the stage might be a grand bandstand,
or perhaps just upturned used crate -
but no matter who they are, or where they are,
what every performer wants
more than anything is to perform.

Most performers who
perform on street corners,
or in the middle of a town square,
do not do so simply for monetary gain -
because the first love of most performers
who stand with their instrument,
a live microphone, and a speaker by their side,
is that of sharing what they feel
for the music within them
and the magic of music that has
the power to draw everyone.

For most performers a stage
of any kind feels like a second home -
and every time every performer
feels those pre-performance nerves
sometimes they feel as if they have to
put on some kind of metaphorical second skin,
or step back into a psychological
pair of comfortable shoes,
with which they can use to help them
soak up every ounce of attention upon them
so that they can convert
their audience's enthusiasm into a fuel
to turbo-charge their art;
however, for the more reticent of performers,
a spotlight may be the last place
that they want to be -
but even the most introverted artist
can, over time, find a way to create
an alter ego with which, in a sense,
they can become someone else,
and make it possible for them
to climb to heights from where
they can make themselves,
and others, believe that they have
this extraordinary, electrifying,
transcendental and other-worldly power.

In this day and age a stage does not need
to be a physical place at a particular time...
in this day and age, because of the constant
advances in technology that have been made
in the way that we all communicate
with one another, anyone, anywhere,
can do what they love, and they can be
whomever they want to be,
and put on a live performance of their own -
even from the sanctuary of their own bedroom...
in this day and age someone
who is categorized as "unknown artist"
can quickly create something and go "viral",
and for as long as the place
where their performance was shared remains,
archived forever for posterity,
someone, anyone, could become
a constant source of hope and joy for someone  -
especially for those people who, at times, feel lost...
in this day and age you don't need to have
a message written in the sky to get noticed,
because anybody with the tenacity,
the courage, the spark, and the love for performing -
that every performer has within them -
can find the perfect place,
can find their perfect audience,
where, and to whom, they never want
to step off the stage of, or say goodbye to -
because every performer has their soapbox.