Friday, October 26, 2012

Let Go. Let Go. Let's Go.



      Last night I had the chance to see a friend of mine perform in a cabaret, and after the show I had sometime to chat with his roommate, who had recently moved to NYC. She asked if I had any advice, as much as I wanted to say “YES! Find the Cinnamon Snail Vegan Food Truck and order EVERYTHING, Banana Republic ALWAYS has public bathrooms, and cabs HAVE to take you to Queens”, I turned off the sarcasm for a minute and honestly thought about it. I gave what wisdom I could, about persistence, staying motivated, always being prepared, not having expectations, and being kind to yourself. As we began to mingle with more people, I asked them their opinions, and universally we got the same answer “It’s all about being at the right place at the right time”. 



      “It’s all about being at the right place at the right time”, sometimes hearing that phrase just sucks. We spend our whole lives working towards something, doing the best we possibly can, yet there is not guarantee. We spend thousands of dollars on college, we continue to work to master our craft, and then when we ask someone “How’d you do it?”, they say...”Ya know, its all about being at the right place at the right time”. Listen, last week when I was watching re-runs of the 1980s Fame series whilst obsessively watching my pizza being made on my Dominos order tracker, no place ever felt so right to me. Where was my shining opportunity? Instead, I woke up a little bloated and still really wishing I could bring back a feathered bang. Point being, those people are right, it IS about being at the right place at the right time, which may seem like a game of chance, but it does not have to be. What if we incorporated some of the other things we have learned along the way, maybe that would make some more sense.

     A couple months back I talked about “You are exactly where you should be”, and then talked about acceptance, and then talked about Delta Burke and Les Mis, but then brought it back to accepting that you are exactly where you should be. So thats kind of like the base for everything. Saying “Alright, this is where I am, and I am cool with it, that bird just pooped on me, whatever I should be here”. You may be saying, okay so I accept where I am is where I SHOULD be, but how do I know it is the “right” place. Well thats where the whole bit about “being taken care of”, and all that “doing the next right thing” and “no expectations” comes in. Oh, and on top of all that, learning to tell ego and fear to suck a fat one because when those bitches start creeping in, no one is getting any spiritual work done.

     Alright so, you are all like “Fine, I am where I need to be, I accept it, but I am not really sure about it”. Here’s the thing, you ARE taken care of, think of the rest of your life, and how things have kind of worked out for you. A few weeks ago a friend of mine said “What makes you think whatever is taking care of you is going to be like “You know what, you’re on your own now, I am done taking care of you’”. So true. I am not saying there will not be bumps in the road, there always is, but don’t we always look back on things and say “Oh, now I get it”. Like I totally had to have that awkward mullet in the 3rd grade combined with a sassy Winnie the Pooh jumper. Why? Now I have a picture that can be used as photographic comedic genius. So what you are doing right now is what you should be doing, and trust it. You are taken care of, believe it, it will work out.

     So how do you get to the right place AT the right time? Who knows when it will happen, but the general consensus last night was to ALWAYS be ready. So thats where we bring in the “doing the next right thing” part. We know we SHOULD go to that audition or interview, or sometimes we meet that person and we SHOULD give them our card, or maybe we have a friend that can help us out and we SHOULD ask them, but most times we dont. Why not? We is scared as shit. What will they think? Will they be annoyed? I am not good enough! Blah Blah Blah. Show up, follow through, tell the “fear” you have to go eff itself, just do it. Last night I had a lot of anxiety and fear about something, and I knew I had to let it go. I created a little saying for myself “Let go. Let go. Let’s go”. As in, release it, you are supported, take action. I love that for us.

     So this is all simple stuff, right? Just trust what you are doing, do the work, followthrough, do not attach yourself to the outcome or have expectations, and breathe. Simple. Simple life skills that are REALLY REALLY HARD! I do not know about you guys but I find myself in the midst of a really dramatic quarter life crisis daily. Thankfully I am learning to notice those moments, just noticing them, maybe make them my Facebook status, maybe laugh about my mini tragedy, but then I know to let them go. I don’t have time for a quarter life crisis, theres too many beautiful things going on. Just breathe, live, accept, and trust. You will be in that right place, just don’t try to figure out where and when it will pop up, you’ll know, and then I will be there awkwardly in the corner wearing a ball gown sipping on a Shirley Temple saying “Go get ‘em!”.
...not really, but that’d be real great.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Elise,
Love reading your thoughts. Where are the posts for 2013?... 2014?

Uncle Richard 😉