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March 31, 2007
Lessons from Liu and Julie Andrews
We saw Turandot at the Met last night. It was Puccini's final opera. It was outstanding. Beautiful sets. Beautiful costumes. Beautiful orchestra. Beautiful singing.
With all the inward complaining I do about the hot yoga I do (every day), I realize that I can make plenty of small excuses for my practice. “I’m tired.” “I don’t feel 101%.” “My back hurts.” “It’s hot.” “It’s humid.” “I’m dehydrated.” I have the entire selection of excuses at the ready. I can cut short a pose with any one of these excuses. And it doesn’t take more than a nano-second.
But can a diva? There she was, Hei-Kyung Hong, belting out Liu's stunning aria. Can she say, mid-way through, “I just don’t feel up to it. I’m shutting down now and walking off the stage. It’s too hot in this costume. I’m dehydrated. My voice sounds like shit.”
No, she can’t. She has lots going on in her mind - the set, her feet, her voice, her role, the costume, the orchestra. It is a complex set of variables requiring her absolute attention, concentration, discipline, focus, and skill.
About two-thirds through this morning’s yoga journey, the instructor said something like this: “It’s usually around about here [insert the most uncomfortable, barfiest, overwhelmingly hot, out-of-control feeling you can imagine] when I feel like throwing it in. Walking out of the room. I swear at myself. I think that I never want to come in this hot room again. Then something enters my mind, like Julie Andrews singing The Hills are Alive and it inspires me to find the strength inside myself to carry on”. He even invited us to picture him as Julie Andrews in a skirt and apron if it would inspire us.
At that very moment, Julie Andrews was not the image that would serve to inspire me today. Nick in a skirt and apron, maybe.
But he said something that set off a whirlwind in my mind. What are the thoughts that inspire us to do things that are challenging, that require the courage that we think we don’t have, and that force us to step out of our element?
Is it the people that we choose as our extended family that provide us with inspiration? Does our immediate family inspire us? What do the answers to these questions mean about the people that we choose as our closest friends? Do I inspire others? Do I inspire myself?
There I was, dripping a steady stream of smelly sweat, my spine stretched, when I went through the list of people in my life who inspire me. The list surprised me.
Who’s on your list? Why are they on your list? What was the last decision you made that was unlike you? Why did you make that decision? Were you inspired by someone close to you? Did you thank them, and explain to them how important their advice had been to your decision?
Life is beautiful.
Posted by dave at March 31, 2007 07:19 PM