The Parable of the Dandelion

My cousin came up with this today posted it on Facebook.  I am re-posting it for all of my readers.

The Parable of the Dandelion

by Melissa Meadows

When I was young I didn't understand what was wrong with Dandelions- they are pretty! Now that I am grown I understand their danger. It is so easy for them to take over, and once they have a foothold, it is very hard to get rid of them. I live in a scary neighborhood, and my neighbors don't seem to mind the dandelions and they are rampant all around my yard, and it is hard to keep them out. I have to take steps early to keep them from getting hold. Do you see where I'm going yet?

This world can also be a scary place, and sins are kind of like Dandelions. When we are young, they can seem pretty, what's the harm if it make you happy? But once they get a foothold, they are hard to get rid of and can quickly multiply, especially when they are all around us. It is important to take steps to get rid of them from our lives as soon as they appear, otherwise it takes a lot of work to get them out of our lives. It is a constant battle to keep our lives (yards) clear of them, but when we do, we have a much nicer place to live.

Uncertainty: An Actor's Best Friend

I apply and interview for a job at least five or six times a year.  Sometimes more, sometimes less.  I'm serious!  Every time I audition for a new show, it's just like a job interview.  It's also like judgment day.  I put myself out there to be judged....every single time I audition.  It's really hard!  It's not like I'm guaranteed a part every time I audition.  I have to continually prove myself, often to the same people, many times.  I constantly set myself up for rejection.

Often, I don't know my schedule for several months in advance.  I don't know when I'll be in a show, if I'll be in rehearsals, or anything like that.  I often can't make specific plans for things if I am thinking of auditioning for a show that would be happening around that same time.  There is a lot of uncertainty in my life, all the time.  

I never realized just how much uncertainty I live with constantly until just recently.  All of the sudden, there were all of these shows I want to do, with theatre companies that I dearly love, all at the same time. One show overlapped with two others.  Another show meant I couldn't do a one night only show that I've done every year since 2006.  It's starting to work itself out, because I was not cast in one of the shows.  I will know about show #2 before I would need to audition for show #3, but neither show is a sure thing.  So at this point, I have no idea what I will be doing from May to October.  Do you have this much unpredictability in your life?

But that brings up another issue...rejection.  Why is it that I can handle theatre rejection so much better than I can my fear of personal rejection?  Well, I think I just answered that right there.  Theatre rejection means that I'm not right for the part or I have too many conflicts.  Maybe someone else was better than me in the audition.  (And I am a horrible dancer, which I freely admit.)  But with personal rejection, that are actually rejecting ME.  I have a huge fear of that.  It's PERSONAL....therefore, I take it PERSONALLY.  That is just something I'm going to have to work on...and get over.

Back to the point of this blog.  It wasn't this hard when I did 1 show a year.  But since 2008, I have done up to 5 or 6 shows a year.   Why?  Well, there are several reasons.  First, I love doing theatre.  It makes me happy.  Hmmm...do you really need any more reasons than that?  I guess the reason I've been doing more shows is that I don't have anything else to do in the evenings.  I might as well be happy doing a show!  I would love for a reason to be too busy to do other shows, but that hasn't exactly worked out for me.  So until it happens, I will be doing lots of shows!  As many as I can!

So what it really boils down to is this:  Why do I put myself through such pain, agony, rejection, doubt, and uncertainty.  It's because I love to perform.  I love making people laugh.  I love being another character.  I love singing.  As an audience member, I love being transcended to another time and place...and as an actor I love doing that for the audience.  Is it worth the angst of not knowing what the next several months hold for me?  Totally!  Keeps me on my toes and from being bored!  Now if I could just figure out how to make a ton more money to support this theatre habit, all would be well.

And there's the 3rd thing...

You know how they say that bad things come in threes?  (Or maybe that's celebrity deaths...)  Anyway, I had two bad things happen on Thursday.  I just knew the 3rd thing was coming.

First, I spilled my breakfast all over my lap (and the floor...and luckily not all over my computer.)  Second, I hit a bird on my way to work.  Normally, they fly out of the way as I'm driving towards them.  This one just stayed there and...yeah...no more bird.

So what's the 3rd thing?  Well, I somehow managed to throw my back out in my sleep last night.  I woke up like this.  The only time I don't hurt is if I'm sitting down.  Yeeeeaaaah....that's gonna be a problem tonight for the show.  I'm waiting to take Ibuprofen until closer to showtime, so it will last through the end of the show.

Ugh.

Wicked Nerdy

I'm going to see Wicked tonight at the Buell.  This will be my 5th time seeing this amazing show!  So excited!

While trying to decide what to wear (since I have to work all day and I'm not coming home before heading to Denver), I was debating what color of shirt to wear.  Follow my thoughts as I decide.  (This won't mean anything to you if you don't know the show.  Sorry.)

"I'm not going to wear green because I don't want to be THAT girl."

Seriously, that makes no sense if you don't know the show, but it was very funny to me!

Balancing Act

Yesterday evening, the light in the hallway outside my bedroom burned out.  We have pretty high ceilings, especially in that part of the house.  I brought over a kitchen chair to stand on, but the light fixture was still out of my reach by about 2 or 3 feet.  So what did I do?  I climbed up on the bookcase.  It's a sturdy bookcase, so I figured I would be okay.  (I wouldn't even THINK of standing on the bookshelves I have in my room.  IKEA and Walmart specials, both of them.)  I managed to hold onto the taller bookcase and turn around enough to change the light bulb.  Then I very slowly lowered myself back down to the chair !   Voila!  Light bulb changed.  Go me!

When Melissa came home and I told her what I had done, she reminded me that we have a ladder in the laundry room that is tall enough for such jobs as changing light bulbs in that part of the house.  Whoops!  I had forgotten about that ladder.  Oh, well.  I got the job done and didn't fall down!  Huzzah!

Oblivious Driving

The other day, I was driving to work.  Minding my own business.  Not really paying much attention to anything except driving.   It was snowing (a little) and I was concentrating on driving safely, even though it wasn't that slick.  I had just purchased new windshield wipers that morning, after a slightly scary drive home the night before when my old wipers weren't working the best and I couldn't see very well out of my windshield in the rain (and in the dark.  Yikes!)

Anyway, all of the sudden my phone rang.  It was my friend Mikeal.  He asked me if I was paying attention while I was driving.  I said yes.  Then he proceeded to tell me that he had just been driving next to me, waving and honking his horn.  I was very surprised, because I had no recollection of this AT ALL.  I was totally zoned out.  I actually thought he had mistaken another car for mine (since I just got a new car in December.)  But no...he described my car and the truck I was following quite accurately.  So I don't know whether I was just totally in my own world or what.  But I seriously don't remember hearing a car horn honking.  And that's weird, because I normally look around when I hear those to make sure they aren't honking at me!

So the next day, I took a different route to work and I was driving on I-25.  I set my cruise control and was very shocked at the number of cars that were whizzing past me!  Didn't these people go the speed limit?  Then I realized...I had set my cruise control for 65 mph.  The speed limit is 75 mph.  Duh!!  Another day of obliviousness behind the wheel.  When I told Mikeal about it later, he asked me if I have cruise control on my brain.  I said that I probably did.  What other explanation is there?  Oh wait...I know....

It's Tech Week!  I'm exhausted!!  I need more sleep.  Maybe I'll take a nap during rehearsal tonight.  It's not like I'm onstage a whole lot.

Something new...

What?  Angela is trying a new food?!  WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO!!!!  I am the first to admit that I am notoriously a picky eater.  So sue me.  But I've wanted to try Greek Yogurt for awhile.  If you know my yogurt eating habits, you're probably in shock right now.  I will only eat Yoplait Harvest Peach.  Seriously.  But I found peach flavored Greek yogurt, so I'm going to try it.  If I don't like it...well, then I have 2 cartons of strawberry flavored Greek yogurt at home.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  

So here we go.  I have Chobani brand Greek yogurt.  Let's open it up and have a taste, shall we?

• Smells like how I remember yogurt smelling when I was a kid.  And I wouldn't eat it.  Yoplait doesn't smell like that, which is one of the reasons why I prefer it.
• It looks like it's one step away from being cottage cheese.  What is the expiration date on this stuff?  May 5th.  Hmmmm...
• It's thick.  It tastes like yogurt.  Needs more peaches.
• I do believe I've pulled a face with each bite.  Not sure I like this stuff...but I don't dislike it.
• It's different.
• I think I'll be sticking with the Yoplait.  I'll eat the strawberry stuff at home (which happens to be Yoplait brand...I had a coupon.)  Nothing against Greek yogurt, but it wasn't my favorite.

Interesting.