Saturday, June 25, 2016

Today...Tomorrow...whatever

Hey!  I have a blog!  I had totally forgotten.  Stuff caught up with me.  A trip across the country, a new school year starting, six shows and a pageant, casting directing, Italy, London, middle schoolers....Actually, it's been almost five years since my last post.  You know what?  The world kept spinning.  My last post about time is so relevant at any point.  Here's what I know, "the usual" is what some people crave.  A sense of routine and expectation.  Some people love living in chaos.  Some people try to balance the two like a fat kid on a tightrope (that's a simile, children!).   I teach an amazing poem called, "The Lesson of the Moth."  (http://www.donmarquis.org/themoth.htm)  Fantastic!  Isn't it?  It represents society's views so perfectly.  It was written in the '30's by Don Marquis, an American author and humorist.  Are we that predictable?  When I read 1984, I thought this could never happen. Enter the "Patriot Act."  I marvel at how Shakespeare completely captured the waffling minds of teenagers in Romeo and Juliet.  Spoiled little emo kids.  How does that happen?  How does something written 400, 100, 50 years ago mirror our society today?  It is something I ponder.  I wonder if I was born in the wrong era.  I'm sure the party-girl in me would have loved the rebellious nature of the 1920's.  I'm also sure that I should have been present for Elvis Presley's rise to stardom as he would have seen me in the audience, I would have charmed my groupie ass backstage, and then maybe he wouldn't have skeezed off to Germany to marry a 13 year old for CRYING OUT LOUD.   Yes.  Yes, I just insinuated that I would have been Mrs. Elvis Aron Presley if I was alive then.  Anyway, I guess it is futile to wish yourself back to a time that seemed to have the same real issues at core.  The hair, clothes, and music may have changed, but the real struggles of seeking love, living life, having purpose are timeless.  So here's what I know, today is our time.  Not where we want to be in 5 years.  Not what we will accomplish when we get that job, lose that weight, find that perfect someone...Today.  As my wise 96 year old Italian Nana says, "Don't talk to me about tomorrow.  I might not be here."  Carpe Diem!