It is easy to walk around this word being washed over by the media stories reporting horror. To carry around a dark heavy coat of fear and sadness because, “where is the good in this world?”
I find myself being sucked into the drudgery of life and adulting and I sometimes can’t see anything but the pain and sadness.
And it is hard to feel free and unchained by it all.
And then I see it, the bravery, the courage in another and I know there is so much more here than only pain.
Saturday night we went to the History Theatre to watch a play. Sometimes you see something that blows you away and other times you walk out disappointed. We walked away from the play Glensheen in complete awe at such a flawless and intriguing show. And there was a woman in the play that is seared in my mind.
When I trained in theater a phrase the teachers would often say was, “Go all the way.” “Go big!”
But going all the way with a character is an art form, being able to be unrestrained and free while also not being out of control and throwing the scene into chaos takes skill.
This older actress, Wendy Lehr, walked on the stage with her wrinkled face and body and I was worried.
I thought, “Oh this is kind of like community theater were retired people return to the stage.”
I had no idea what was actually brewing in that historic body of hers. Her ability to play multiple characters, to bring us fully into the moments with her was magical.
And then halfway through the show she REALLY let herself go, fully all the way. Singing and dancing and twerking!
Yes, twerking.
This grandmother hit all the notes and in her beautifully sung voice, while shaking her booty and making us laugh so hard I spilled my drink down my lap.
She was fully 100% in the moment and we were there with her.
She was having an ultimate riot of a time.
And we were there with her.
She wasn’t thinking about what we thought of her, if we liked her, or even if we could see her panty line, which we could.
She was all in.
I can’t stop thinking about her. Not only I was in such admiration of her acting talent, but more the ability of this twerking Grandma to immerse herself in a role that she made us all think we could twerk just like that!
She is brave. She is beautiful.
Photo is from this Star & Tribune article.
And now after finishing this book, (which is up on Amazon for pre-order! Whoohooo!) I am starting to see them everywhere.
These brave and beautiful women.
How did I not see them before? Wasn’t I paying attention to the world around me?
Yes, but since I have been submerged for this last year in writing these stories of bravery and beauty, my eyes are starting to see them everywhere.
And they encourage me these brave women.
Their courage.
Their beauty.
Spurs me on to go all in. To go big.
To step on the stage of life with full abandon and less fear. To step into the person that God created me to be.
That is how we do this brave and beautiful thing.
We throw off the trying to be something, the posturing, and the game of beauty and trying to be who the world thinks we should be. And instead we, without abandon, move towards being completely who we are meant to be.
And we twerk if we want to. Panty lines and all.
Yes. Wendy Lehr, you inspire me.
I want to go big just like you, you brave and beautiful woman!
How about you? Do you see them too? These brave and beautiful women? Email me contactleeblum@gmail.com and tell me about them!
xo
Lee