Once, about a decade ago, my daughter Dylan sent me an out-of-the-blue text asking me if I were a Deadhead. I told her at that time that I was not sure since I had only seen the Dead in concert once and The Jerry Garcia Band twice. In my mind, Deadheads were those people who had VW vans and followed the Dead from concert to concert.

For some reason though, I kept thinking about that question. Then I stumbled upon this quote in Deadheads: Stories from Fellow Artists, Friends and Followers of the Grateful Dead by Linda Kelly:

“I think a Deadhead is anyone who loves the music. I don’t think it’s about how many shows you saw. I think if you never saw a show or you saw five hundred shows, if you enjoy listening to their music, then you’re a Deadhead. A Deadhead is kind of a cool, laid-back person, with a certain kind of a philosophy of life, of doing good to other people, treading lightly, and just being a kind soul.” ~Chuck Staley
[Kelly, Linda. Deadheads: Stories from Fellow Artists, Friends; Followers of the Grateful Dead . Skyhorse Publishing. Kindle Edition.]

Given that definition…. yeah, I am a Deadhead. Or at least, I aspire with all my heart to be one. After all, what could one possibly aspire to in the world today that would be more needed than: “doing good to other people, treading lightly, and just being a kind soul.”

‘Nuff Said!