You’re busy, aren’t you?
Of course you are. You’re awake, and most of you reading this right now are living in America, so chances are your Shut Up a Second Blog reading time is in tandem with some other stuff you have to do. And that’s totally cool, people. These blogs are bathroom-friendly, mass transit-compatible groups of words. Multi-task away if you must. But you really shouldn’t.
For a long time, I felt that a cramped schedule was a badge of honor. I was so proud of being busy with my important acting job, saving souls one laugh at a time, 52 weeks a year. Show business is consuming, mentally and physically. It’s fun as hell, mostly because you’re the fun. Entertainers meet people – most of the time – at their best, when they are ready to receive and share joy with one another. Artist and audience exchange joy and create that barely describable vibe that actors pretentiously talk about during intimate interviews and car commercials. The byproduct of said vibe is a euphoria that usually leaves the audience at the exit door, but always keeps the artist at work, crafting and creating to get another taste.
When the world slowed down, I stuttered through the day, grateful to be safely inside, but unsure of what to do with the part of me that needed to reflect the world back to itself. The artist was starving for purpose. It took some time, a little more study, and even more courage to begin to live truthfully as a creative writer.
Before you swipe down to answer that email notification, let me get to my point.
We live in memory. Caught up with judging what we did and fearing what we have to do, the present routinely occurs under our nose. It has no agenda, it’s not full of regret or anxiety. It’s just here.
I wonder, as the world yawns and stretches out of its slumber to meets warmer weather and brighter days, will we lose sight of what we’ve gained to get back on the wheel of normality?
*Photo Credit: Street Phonicz Photography
