Hoping lightning will strike twice in the Desert

Being at the helm of our most largely circulated newspaper in Imperial County is a funny thing in that people assume I have a large sphere of influence. I honestly don’t think I do because, truth be told, even though I usually see 20 moves ahead because I look at all angles, getting someone to actually heed my advice before they get into a conundrum is the hardest thing, mostly because words of wisdom are sometimes lost on people. Either way, I wouldn’t call myself much of an influencer, despite a co-worker swearing I’m a sort of “local celebrity” (which makes me laugh).

I’ve made it no secret I am very, very far from being a politico, to the point of openly stating how much I despise the current climate of political polarism (regardless of whether you lean left or right), but there is one thing I can openly say I’ve happy to have had at least some small instance of influence in: Music and Promoting the Arts.

I won’t get into specifics as really all I served as was a “connector” to get the players together for them to make things happen, but as those of you who attended or heard the rave reviews of the “Leyendas” concert for Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández back in March know, the concert was an almost-sold out hit with locals. I don’t want to take credit for that, as mentioned in a previous column by my OpEd writing colleague Norma Aguilar, lots of Valleyites came together to help those mariachi workshops Sol held for local students the day before and the subsequent concert happen. And yes, we hope that was the start of many, as Sol wants to come back to El Centro in October to do it again.

But, as they say, “everything happens for a reason,” and I would include my Stream of Consciousness ramblings in these columns in that category.

From my column last Monday, the off-hand brainstorm I had regarding the what-I-hope-comes-to-fruition – “Desert Soul Fest” or the “Desert Soulscapes Music Festival” – might actually start taking shape.

As it turns out, of the bands and artists I mentioned that I think would make for a good lineup – El Centro’s own Jaylene “JAYROXXX” Terrazas, Joey Quiñones and the Sinseers, The Altons, Chicano Batman, Los Stellarians, Durand Jones & The Indications (with El Centro’s Kiinch Degrate on trumpet) – Hidalgo’s president is already a fan of one of these. The Hidalgo Society board will be discussing the possibility of this concert or music fest coming to fruition in a board meeting in the near future.

So if it’s already in the early conceptual stages, why write about it? Because something I think most of us in the Valley have yet to learn is: If people here don’t work together and play nice in our sandbox nothing ever happens.

In other words, if this thing is going to get off the ground it needs much more support than just Hidalgo, or even just Brawley; it needs the full Valley’s support. I’m calling you out: Cities of Brawley, El Centro, Imperial, Holtville, Calexico, Calipatria, County of Imperial, Imperial Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Brawley, Calexico Chamber, Mid-Winter Fair Board, IID, et al.

As great as all of your individual efforts are in the different things you do for your cities (Cattle Call, Carrot Festivals, MW Fair entertainment and the like), if you’d like to make waves bigger than those we already make, on California and our neighboring regions, then ask yourself this: Do we really have an event that draws people to the Imperial Valley as does the likes of, say, “Coachella?”

The Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival is so synonymous with the name of the city that music lovers from all over the country and other parts of the world hear “Coachella” and automatically conjure up ideas of not just desert heat and intravenous hydration but big-name musical artists, EDM, and loads of press to go along with their two weekend-long music fest that is no longer so much rivaled by other fests like South-By-Southwest (SXSW) or years-gone-bye’s Lollapalooza, and for my fellow old-heads, Woodstock.

Our neighbors have their things going: Coachella has their music fest, San Diego has its Comic-Con, even Yuma has that annual huge car show/concert … so where’s our big event? Cattle Call, I’ve loved you since I was a child and we (Valleyites) never want you to go away, but I believe we can do bigger. “Coachella” doesn’t have to be the only desert with a hit music festival.

This “Desert Soulscapes” idea may have just been a spur of the moment thing that my fatigued brain and music-loving heart cooked up in an OpEd, but it doesn’t have to just say an idea. I believe it is FAR PAST time that we cities, chambers, societies, car clubs, entertainers and more in the Valley come together to make something big happen here.

Even if “Souldies” (“soul-dees”) music is not your thing, the point is we need to bring down these invisible walls between our cities, chambers, etcetera and start working together to draw crowds to fill our hotels, restaurants and more. The

Sol de México experiment not only got people talking about mariachi outside of certain ‘ designated’ times of the year, but its spawning a resurgence, as cities and chambers are now talking about what they can do to have their own mariachi events, with a few entities starting to team up, so let’s keep that creative wave and camaraderie rolling — but I challenge you all to stop thinking so “me and my city” and start thinking more as a unified Imperial Valley.

Let’s work together to put the Imperial Valley on the map for entertainment/ music. Maybe it will lead to funds to create bigger artist venues here. Everyone likes music, right? Everyone likes revenue? We can have nice things here too, so let’s make it happen.

Here’s to hoping lightning can strike twice in our desert. And promoters/ managers: Go easy on the price, will ya?

Virtually all aspects of our world are cyclic. Hurricanes, earthquakes, the weather, wars, the economy, a person’s mood, obstacles, and challenges all fluctuate with time. The characteristics and duration of cycles are best observed from a distance.

There are many time scales to consider. On a geologic time scale of tens of thousands of years, our planet has experienced major cooling and warming cycles. During the cold periods there have been ice ages. They have vanished as the temperature increased.

On a time scale of decades, we can experience prolonged periods of drought or excess precipitation. Hurricanes and earthquakes fluctuate in terms of numbers and intensity. But to anyone living through any natural disaster, the existence of cycles is of little comfort.

Each individual natural phenomenon has a beginning and an end. If a person were to be caught in a hurricane, without the knowledge that it would end, he or she would think that the world was disintegrating.

A perfect sunny day is not permanent either. At some point there will be clouds and rain. Since the weather changes daily, everyone is used to these cycles and everyone expects the weather to change.

Over the years, economic depressions and recessions have come and gone. There are people who have made fortunes, lost them, and then made them again. Those who recognize and adapt to the cyclic nature of life are best prepared to endure hardships and overcome obstacles.

Problems become exacerbated due to our limited perspective of time. You can get overwhelmed with a personal crisis. Feeling that you have entered some hellish endless quagmire is common.

The human perspective of time is hours, days, or weeks. But some of the cycles affecting you will span months or years. If you don’t recognize this, you are prone to frustration. If you are not aware of cycles, you will believe no end is in sight.

Change results from cycles. With each end comes another beginning. Some cycles occur consecutively, while others happen concurrently. Concurrent cycles can be particularly tumultuous.

Throw a stone in a pond and the ripples emanate outward. Each individual wave is easily discernable and represents a consecutive cycle. However, if you toss in a handful of stones, the waves will crisscross making it difficult to identify individual waves. This is an example of concurrent cycles.

Concurrent cycles are frustrating because it’s hard to discern different individual events. In this situation you can become overwhelmed. One strategy for handling this scenario is to separate the individual cycles.

Two months ago, Betty went back to college for the first time in 20 years to finish her degree. Last week she was laid off from work. Yesterday, Betty’s car broke down. Each one of the cycles has a different time frame. Betty will get her car fixed, secure another job, and complete her degree. Her challenge is to visualize the end of each cycle before she gets frustrated.

Betty can also help minimize the cumulative effect of the overlapping of the three cycles by addressing each one individually. She should focus on the specific requirements of each cycle without being distracted by the others.

While Betty is sitting in class she shouldn’t be thinking about her car or job search. During an interview, Betty shouldn’t be outlining her term paper. Each one of her cycles demands specific attention.

Separate the individual cycles that are impacting you. Handle each one in turn rather than simultaneously. You have successfully gone through many cycles before and you will get though whatever you are facing now.