Elizabeth's terrible, horrible, actually wait, no, pretty great day.
Yesterday I had a monumentally unfortunate day. From the moment I opened my eyes it seemed like nothing could go right. This is where I might relive my incredibly crappy day to you, but something amazing happened at the end of it that makes the bad stuff seem irrelevant.
I am currently in a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with the Promethean Theatre Ensemble at the Athenaeum Theatre here in Chicago (go see it!). Due to my day, I was so incredibly stressed (and late) when I walked into the theater for a Tuesday night "industry" performance. I had done my duty and informed our stage manager that I would be late and he was incredibly kind and understanding about it: day boost #1. I get to the theater and drop off my things in the dressing room, announce my bad day to a replied chorus of "oh no!"s and "I want to hear all about it!"s: day boost #2. I then went into the actual house in order to inform the stage manager of my presence to find I had arrived just in time: day boost #3. They were all appreciative and genuinely happy at my arrival and presence: day boost #4. We ran through our fights for the show and was made to laugh so many times in the span of about 2 minutes, that already my bad day seemed far away: day boost #'s 5,6, and 7. My friends then stood by and listened to me explain my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and this miraculous thing happened to me as I was listening to myself ramble, I realized that none of the bad stuff really mattered: day boost to #'s infinity (and beyooooond!). At the end of my supposed terrible day, I got to see people I care about and enjoy and do what I love best... act! Through their eyes I realized that my day really wasn't all that bad. And not because they were looking at me as though to say "you're overreacting". Quite the opposite actually. They were looking at me with the greatest empathy and compassion and I realized that as long as I had people in my life that could look at me that way, I would be alright. I spent my whole day feeling as though I was drowning and just like that, it was gone and I could breathe.
Regardless, they spent the rest of the evening actively cheering me up. One great hug, popcorn snack, attempted candy snack, Game of Thrones conversation, and pretty intense game of rock paper scissors later, I realized I hadn't thought about my day's problems once during the two and a half hours traffic of our stage. I then got to talk to my sister (albeit from another mister), Jocelynn, on my drive home. Made some delicious pasta, had some anxieties very timely quieted and hope restored, and video chatted with some of my Rover family about some exciting upcoming Roving Shakespeare projects (stay tuned!). When I look back on it, it was actually a pretty fabulous day.
Today I woke up and unfortunate things began happening to me again and all I could do was smile. I've wasted a lot of time in the past complaining when really, I've got it pretty good.
And tomorrow, I get to do it all over again. Give me your best shot bad days ahead!
I am currently in a production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead with the Promethean Theatre Ensemble at the Athenaeum Theatre here in Chicago (go see it!). Due to my day, I was so incredibly stressed (and late) when I walked into the theater for a Tuesday night "industry" performance. I had done my duty and informed our stage manager that I would be late and he was incredibly kind and understanding about it: day boost #1. I get to the theater and drop off my things in the dressing room, announce my bad day to a replied chorus of "oh no!"s and "I want to hear all about it!"s: day boost #2. I then went into the actual house in order to inform the stage manager of my presence to find I had arrived just in time: day boost #3. They were all appreciative and genuinely happy at my arrival and presence: day boost #4. We ran through our fights for the show and was made to laugh so many times in the span of about 2 minutes, that already my bad day seemed far away: day boost #'s 5,6, and 7. My friends then stood by and listened to me explain my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and this miraculous thing happened to me as I was listening to myself ramble, I realized that none of the bad stuff really mattered: day boost to #'s infinity (and beyooooond!). At the end of my supposed terrible day, I got to see people I care about and enjoy and do what I love best... act! Through their eyes I realized that my day really wasn't all that bad. And not because they were looking at me as though to say "you're overreacting". Quite the opposite actually. They were looking at me with the greatest empathy and compassion and I realized that as long as I had people in my life that could look at me that way, I would be alright. I spent my whole day feeling as though I was drowning and just like that, it was gone and I could breathe.
Regardless, they spent the rest of the evening actively cheering me up. One great hug, popcorn snack, attempted candy snack, Game of Thrones conversation, and pretty intense game of rock paper scissors later, I realized I hadn't thought about my day's problems once during the two and a half hours traffic of our stage. I then got to talk to my sister (albeit from another mister), Jocelynn, on my drive home. Made some delicious pasta, had some anxieties very timely quieted and hope restored, and video chatted with some of my Rover family about some exciting upcoming Roving Shakespeare projects (stay tuned!). When I look back on it, it was actually a pretty fabulous day.
Today I woke up and unfortunate things began happening to me again and all I could do was smile. I've wasted a lot of time in the past complaining when really, I've got it pretty good.
And tomorrow, I get to do it all over again. Give me your best shot bad days ahead!
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