"...Your One Wild and Precious Life"

I read a quote recently that literally took my breath. It gave me a moment of heart-stopping clarity.

I was starting a new book…. Always with pleasure and anticipation…. And this quote was  at the beginning.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”

Still I can’t read it without being transfixed. I guess all of us are touched in different ways by various things; Things which resonate with us on a primal level. I put the book down. It was all I could handle at the moment. I was full. The quote is from New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver.

First of all, a while back I created a vision board. On it, one of the things I wanted more of in my life was poetry. I wanted to know more about it, read more of it and be exposed to more poets. Since that time, in the way of the Universe, poets abound in my life. My mother was a gifted, published poet so I had an appreciation for it… just not vast knowledge.  Still my knowledge about it would fit on the head of a pin. Not even. But I love it and I love learning about new poets and old. Their words make my heart sing. They make me see the world with fresh eyes. So there’s that.

So back to the quote. We all have philosophies about life, even if we don’t call them “our philosophy.” It struck me and I do mean “struck”, that this thing we so offhandedly call life, IS a wild thing. A precious thing. And to live without intention is like circling a void.

I have never been sure we only have one shot at life. But I do know that right now it’s the only thing we can be sure of. As a teenager I loved to read Edgar Cayce. I loved his belief that we are beings of light that live and re-live until we get it right. But say, even if reincarnation is real… why would you waste any part of life, whether it’s your only one or your one hundredth? Part of me feels like weeping for the time lost already. Part of me wants to put it right.

So what are you going to do with your “one wild and precious life?”

                                     

  

                                   

Media Epiphany

Okay, so I have had a huge realization. My recent return to the stage and the press surrounding it has taught me something. Never has so much been written about so little. Really. The one-act play I am doing is funny, true. It’s entertaining, true. But articles in every publication in town, constant Facebook advertising, a Twitter account and now FRONT PAGE of the newspaper? Are you kidding me? Suddenly we are sold-out. The playwright, Robbie Robertson, who is also our publicist/media guru, is responsible. He is a master of networking and blitzkrieg.

I have heard for a long time from professionals that getting your work out there into the media, using all formats, is important. You are supposed to create your own stir, so to speak. I resisted this for a good long time. I basically ignored it. I thought, “Who would really read all the hype, anyway?” I guess I am a throwback to Jane Austen. I just wanted to write. Not self-promote. Finally, a full year after a good friend said it was imperative, I created this blog. A slow study doesn’t quite cover it.

What this has taught me is, IT WORKS. Duh. However painful and makes me want-to-hide-under-the-bed-embarrassing, IT WORKS. If you create enough stir people will notice. I wish it was a different world. But it’s not. I still love Jane Austen. What on earth would she have done?

For Jane:)

Fireflies

Okay, so here’s what I have been up to:

These women make me laugh so hard. I come home from rehearsals with a stomach ache. I call this “The Twitty Effect”. Because we may be the only ones that think we are funny! This is another part of my creative self. Acting/Performing. Acting used to be a greater passion for me than it is now. I still enjoy it but to a lesser degree. I would rather be creating stories for people to read than something for them to watch. How this transition occurred, I’m not sure. I do believe that expressing all parts of yourself is a good thing. An enriching thing. One nurtures and enhances the other… if not directly … then by keeping the fire lit. The juices flowing.

I sometimes think of these other adventures as fireflies that tug me away from my true purpose. Beautiful and wonderful to watch. Magical, really. But gone in the blink of an eye.