Anything Can Happen In The Woods

Foolishness can happen in the woods. Seize the moment. Skies may fall any moment. All we have are moments. - The Prince

I never saw In The Woods, but dang. I wish I had now. In my 6th class with Ms. Betty Lynn Buckley, she suggested I look into doing a song from Into The Woods. Something sung by the Baker's Wife. Great music from what I've heard. I've definitely found my own meaning in the song "Moments In The Woods." The Baker's Wife is in the woods and a prince comes along and kisses her. As all fairytale princes do, he disappears again. Or is it the princesses that always disappear....? Anyways, she goes on to sing about this alternate reality that she might could lead, but she knows it's not practical.

That's my problem. Practicality. I've got an unfortunate mix of both my mom and my dad - one side is the dreamer creative arts side. The other is the practical proven facts side. Maybe it's fortunate. Jury's still out.

The problem is that my practical side has generally won. Not without kicking and screaming from my mother - I mean the dreaming side of me. It started at the age of toddler when I had a conversation with mom about being a ballerina and a doctor. She explained to me that ballerinas do shows at night and doctors have to be at the hospital to take care of patients.

It was a pivotal moment in my life.

Who wins? Practicality? Or dreamer?

Unfortunately practicality has started rejecting me. Nice. After all we've been through together, too. And how many times have I chosen you, Practicality, over your nemesis the Dreamer?

Doing the song interpretation workshop with Betty Lynn Buckley has been extraordinary. Exactly what's kept me afloat in this hurricane of the unknown. And maybe it's nothing more than a buoy to keep my head above water until the storm calms. But my Dreamer asks, "Could it be more?? Is it my time to shine? Don't you wanna land the role of a lifetime? Point me to the sky! It's my turn to fly!"

As the Baker's Wife, Joanna Gleason sings, "This is ridiculous, what am I doing here, I'm in the wrong storyyyyyyyyyy." But being kissed by a prince is too much to ignore completely. She flirts with the idea for a while, but like myself...the Baker's Wife clears the fog from being kissed by a prince, and practicality returns.

Wake up, stop dreaming, stop prancing around the woods

It's not beseeming, what is it about the woods

Back to life, back to sense, back to child, back to husband

You can't live in the woods

Just a moment, one peculiar passing moment

And to get what you wish only just for a moment, these are dangerous woods

Let the moment go, don't forget it for a moment though

Now it's time to leave the woods

I'm not leaving just yet. The water's still pretty choppy out here.

One less bell to answer...

One less egg to fry. One less thing to put on my calendar.

And if I haven't said it lately, Barbra Frickin' Streisand.

My head has become (even more so) a constant playing of showtunes. No, no, no, I mean constant.

For those of you opposed to a life that breaks out in choreographed song and dance, you are missing something incredible - there's a broadway song written for every moment!! Don't you see the implication of this?!?! If we all became musically savy, we really could live life in song and dance! Together!!

Well, maybe not the dance part.

But whatever.

This past Friday I hosted a Compassion table for a Willow Creek conference at a local church. There's some big things coming up that you are going to want to be a part of.

I mean BIG.

Show stopping even. Defying Gravity big.

But we'll come back to that later. There's still a few things that need to be ironed out on my part, and we'll all get big together.

New York City big.