Then,
I put my hand into my jacket pocket and pulled out this:
Which
led me to think about the small things that have peppered my summer.
At first I gathered them just to show you what I've been up to. But
as I was gathering them, the realization of what each item
represented came to the surface. I realized my life had been so
much richer, so much more creative than I had thought. Here I
was, a tad frustrated because I thought I was spinning my wheels, but
I was actually right in the middle of my usual creative life. Life
was just happening differently than I anticipated. Gee, that's
never happened before, has it?!?!
So,
here's the photo. But before we go any further, I have to
acknowledge that the original idea for this photo came from Wanda
Eichler's blog, From
Under the Willow. And you should know that Wanda is my
sister. One of 5. Sisters, that is.
Blue
Mask – Recognize opportunities. Two
opportunities in this case. Beloved and I have been killing
ourselves, trying to get The Teen to travel with us again. “Anywhere
you want, anywhere on the planet”, we keep saying. “No thanks”,
he says, “I'm happy right here.” So when he agreed to go to The
Bahamas for a quick weekend to watch soccer (watching the World Cup
in another country is a family ritual that was about to die), we
changed schedules, spent too much money and went. That's Opportunity
#1.
Which
led to Opportunity #2, which took place in the very touristy Straw
Market in Nassau, The Bahamas. The colors of this mask
enchanted me immediately. I have learned to buy when I'm
enchanted. Fortunately for my wallet, I'm not easily enchanted. But I
didn't buy right away. Nope. Walked around to see if other
enchantments lay in my path. Marley, the artist/vendor, was surprised
when I kept my word and returned to buy his creation.
Lion
King program
– Never
hurts to ask. Two
of my step-granddaughters came to visit from Minneapolis, so of
course we had to take them to a Broadway show. They hadn't seen Lion
King and
neither had we. I was working on Sunrise
at Hyde Park (see
below) with Darren
Katz, Lion King's current
Resident Director. No brainer, right? See if Darren can get you
backstage, right? Guess what? I was still apprehensive asking Darren
for a special favor. Guess what else? I did it anyway. When he
enthusiastically agreed to give us a backstage tour (and it was
deluxe), once again, something that felt risky to me was warmly
accepted. By the way, the show really is still a remarkable
production; if you can swing the ticket price, go see it.
Rubber
Duckie – Fun
is important. Rubber
Duckie came into my life during a fun weekend in Rehoboth
Beach, Delaware with Beloved and a quartet of wonderful
friends. Yes, we went to the arcade, and yes, we played Skeeball AND
rode the Bumper Cars. And I won Rubber Duckie.
Tiny
Shell – You
never know. There
we were, on Fire
Island. We were expecting nothing but the infamous Cherry
Grove drag queens. We did find the drag queens, and
they were charming, but we also found an island whose rustic and
beautiful nature was still intact. I don't always know what's
going to be at the next stop on this journey...and that's a good
thing.
Dog
collar – Saying goodbye is hard. We had to
put our dear miniature schnauzer, Lizzy, to sleep recently. We knew
she was ill, we knew she wouldn't be with us much longer, but we
didn't know she'd have to leave so soon.
Plays by
George Bernard Shaw – Work
is fun. I'm
back to studying monologues. I need new ones for auditions and,
more importantly, I thoroughly enjoy the work. A different part of my
brain and personality have to show up. Thanks to Jen
Regan, I've been diving into the marvelous plays of George
Bernard Shaw. I thought his work was stuffy. Wrong again!
"To
Love A Woman" lead sheet – Sometimes
you surprise yourself. Sunrise
At Hyde Park keeps
reappearing in my life. I struggled with one of the songs, not
vocally, but getting into the heart of the lyrics. Honestly, even
with quite a bit of work, I still thought I was stinking up the
place when we got to the performances. Apparently, I wasn't. More
audience members commented on the beauty of that moment than any
other moment. And, when two people whose opinions I highly respect,
told me it was good, I decided to accept the moment. Maybe I wasn't
feeling it because it was going through me. Maybe that's the way it's
supposed to be. Maybe I should let go more often.
Pink
papers – It's
easy to take skills for granted. Those
pink papers are notes I took while teaching the Musical Theatre
Intensive class at the Walnut
St. Theatre School. This summer's class was particularly
satisfying; for some reason, this group of students made me realize
how much I had to offer. That felt really good.
Journal
– You're
probably better than you think. And
more notes, this time from my one-day residency with Mary
Martello, funded by 1812
Production's Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Program. My brain
got blown up as Mary and I navigated our way through a piece I'm
working on. I'm still not ready to categorize it - as a
one-woman show or a cabaret, or a something - but with Mary's ideas
and endorsement of my ideas, I'm writing every day and enjoying every
second.
One
more photo. One more realization.
Hummingbird
feeder - The simplest joys are the best. For
three summers I've been trying to attract hummingbirds to my back
yard and I have finally succeeded. I've spent no more than $20 on
supplies (and most of that has been for sugar), but the joy I have
received from watching those cute little birds zing around has been
worth thousands.
You
probably don't like it when I give you an assignment, but I have to
tell you – collecting these items has enriched me and made me feel
so positive about my summer. Even if you don't physically collect
them, I encourage you to do collect them mentally and reflect on
their significance. I think you'll find you're living a more creative
life, than you actually realize.
Gotta
go. The hummers are hungry.