Showing posts with label Our Town. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Town. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Saints and Poets–Maybe They Do Some

A quick vlog before heading to bed tonight to capture a few of my thoughts after seeing a production of "Our Town." You'll have to suffer through my recollection of portraying Mrs. Gibbs in eleventh grade - but I'm not gonna apologize. They are wonderful memories (and I spared you most of them!).

Mark and I squeezed hands often tonight, taking in the magnitude of this piece as filtered through our middle-aged minds. At each intermission, Skye wanted to know where the conflict of the story was. By the end I think he understood that the conflict existed in the lives of the characters themselves as they dealt with the realities of their extraordinarily ordinary daily existence.

By the way, I knew I had the wrong native people living in Mesa Verde. I remembered the name began with an "A," and it's the Anasazi who were cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde not the Aztecs. The Aztecs lived in what's now central Mexico, and according to the internet search I just did, they lived in huts or shacks made of clay. So ... now we all can impress our friends.

Here's to all of us: saints and poets, every one. And here's to you, Thornton Wilder. Thank you for reminding us all of life's extraordinarily simple beauty.




BTW: Because some of you have asked: I got a B+ (88%) on my test. Now, if I hadn't changed around two of my matching, I'd have had the A- I was hoping for. And, if I hadn't over-thought two of the true and false questions, I have had an even more impressive showing. But you know what? I'm sorta glad I didn't get an A. The pressure is off now, somehow. Plus, I experienced my very first "words swimming on the page" as soon as the test was placed in front of me. I now know what students mean when they say they go blank when a test is placed in front of them. Of course, me being me, I was fascinated by the phenomenon, analyzed what was happening and then talked myself through it. I discovered once my pencil got moving, I was fine. But what a strange feeling. I have a class presentation next week. Now THAT I want an A on!


Friday, December 12, 2008

In the Moment - the Now

Stross' last year of high school is slipping away, and I'm not certain I'm honoring its sacredness to the greatest degree possible. Then again, I'm not confident that honoring it would be in my best interest. I'll begin marking moments with tears soon enough: his last conference, last dance, last prom, last day of school. And then the hardest one: the last time to pick him up after school. I'll be an absolute mess that day. Guaranteed.

Maybe it's best not to mark "last time" moments anyway. Maybe holiness exists amid the ordinary. Remember Emily's question of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town"?

She asks: "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every,every minute?"

He replies: "No. (pause) The saints and poets, maybe they do some."

Living fully engaged in daily moments is the goal anyway, isn't it? Breathing in, drinking in, taking in. Connecting with all moments that comprise life. There's simply no catching up or going back. It's all about the now.

The men and women arriving at work to learn it's their last day. Did they see it coming?

The girls and boys (who believe they are women and men) giving in to lust as they kiss days of virginity goodbye. Did they see it coming?

The moms and dads watching their toddlers cross the room unassisted, never to crawl again, it seems. Did they really see those days coming?

The grandpas and grandmas kissing each other goodnight, not knowing what morning would bring. Did they savor the sweetness of their last kiss?

I sure hope so...

You know what, I'm gonna sign off. I have two not-so-little-anymore boys to tuck into bed. (Yes, they still ask me to tuck them in.) And you know what? I'm gonna savor every single second of it.