Twigs Spot

Those of you who are native western new yorkers will remember the feeling you had as a kid when you woke up for school, saw several feet of snow on the ground, and ran to the t.v. to watch the scrolling closings list at the bottom of the screen. They were displayed in alphbetical order, and you would inevitably tune in one letter after your school and have to wait an agonizing 5 to 7 minutes for it to come around again, all the while trying to figure out what your superintendant would decide based on the surrounding district closings: "Damn Penfield, they always close, I hate you Penfield!" "Oooh, yes! Pittsford is closed, they’re right around the corner! Come on Fairport!" There was nothing sweeter than finally seeing your school name, in all it’s glory, with the word CLOSED next to it! It opened up a world of possiblities, such as going back to sleep, watching tv, playing outside…well, that was about it. That total lack of obligation and absence of necessity was a gift to be cherished, and it was.
Things are different when you are an adult. Today, the school where I teach in Jersey was closed due to weather. I got the call at 11, and the initial reaction was the same, sheer joy! Thoughts of video games and lazily reading in bed raced through my head- until my adult mind took over. It bluntly reminded me, "don’t get too excited there bub. you need the money. remember those reproductions of your new headshots you are getting done? remember the overdue loans? credit cards? cell phone bill?" I responded with, "yeah, well there’s nothing i can do about it, is there? so shut up and let me sleep." Of course, he had a comeback. "Really? you gonna sit around and waste the day, when you could be doing something productive? get off your ass and do something. do something. do something-" Eventually, he won out, and I went about creating a productive day. And I felt good about it, upbeat, happy to be accomplishing something, taking advantage of the situation! Except, here’s how my day went…
Headed to Chelsea studios for an audition for Millie, stopping on the way to hand off keys to my apartment to Garfield so he could make copies of his demo. After arriving at the holding room, I was greeted as I entered by who I presume to be the monitor. "Can I help you?" I told him I was here for the Millie audition, and he told me they weren’t seeing Non-equity today. I looked around the room and saw 25 guys. I said, "really?" and he told me I could come back tomorrow and be typed at 2pm sharp. I can’t go. So, I tried to get in across the hall at Sacremento Music Circus. Wouldn’t see me. Still determined, with my adult voice ringing in my frozen ears (do something!), I headed up to AEA to try and get seen for Pittsburgh CLO. There, posted in the oh-so-familiar hallway, was my fate spelled out in big black letters: "No Non Equity Today." Fine. You can’t stop me when I’m determined! On to Nola Studios! Wait- ahhh! Hidden slushy puddle! Soaked up to the ankle! "I should go home now," I thought. But that damn adult voice was relentless! Fine on to Nola. Merry Go Round- appointment only. Norman Meranus, York Theater Company- gone. Damn it, 0 for 5!
At this point, I was quite aggravated, and I knew of only one thing that would simultaneously calm me and give me the sense of accomplishment I was craving- YOGA! I had a terrific class, and had a chance to really push aside the external and focus my mind internally- with my adult mind appeased. I can accept the things I experienced today and learn from them. They are now part of me. And next time I have an unexpected day off, and my adult voice kicks in, I’ll tell it not to worry, and to follow me out the door- to yoga class. Unless I can wrangle my equity card before then….

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.