Friday, March 06, 2009

Hot & Cold


Last week the daffodils in our yard bloomed. I looooooove it when the daffodils finally show us their happy, sunshiny faces because it means that soon the azalea blossoms will burst forth in happy mounds of pink and the trees will be covered in big clouds of white & there will be colors everywhere.

So just imagine my surprise when this happened.

Snow! Hooray!
Understand that I grew up expecting this very sort of weather-related rollercoaster every March. However, that was in Oklahoma. North Carolina is different. Or at least I thought it was. I was sure that we'd already had more than our fair share of snow for the year. Now I'm wondering if we need to buy a snow shovel.

Like the weather, my emotions ran hot & cold this week. I started out happy & excited. On Tuesday night I finally - FINALLY - got to see The Monti again. In case I haven't mentioned it before, The Monti is kinda like a live, local production of This American Life. Each show has a theme & 5 people are invited to tell true, real life stories based on that theme. I managed to see one of the Monti's shows last fall, but its popularity has exploded since then. The tickets for this week's show sold out in just 7 minutes. Yes, just 7! So I was thrilled that 2 of those tickets belonged to me.

The show was everything I'd hoped: Funny and inspiring and wonderful. Just like the first time I saw The Monti, I felt like I was surrounded by like-minded people - people who love the art of story telling, yes, but people who were on my same wave-length in lots of other ways, too. Tim loved the experience and as we walked to the car he said we'll have to find a way to get our hands on more tickets next time so some friends can see this, too. It was wonderful. I felt elated. To be honest, I felt as though I may have finally found a creative, intellectual home.


But you know how rollercoasters go. Just after you reach the highest peak, you plummet down to the deepest depth. That's what happened to me the next day. You know how the color quiz said the my "problem" was that I admired original, creative people? Now I understood how that could be problematic. I couldn't stop thinking about the bios of the storytellers at The Monti. These people had interesting degrees from impressive universities. Or they had intriguing careers. They were published authors or they sang in cool bands or they operated impressive arts organizations. Or or or or.
And it hit me.
What would I put on my bio? I'm a housewife. I spend my days poking about on the internet and, on a good day, whipping up some food in the kitchen. Why on earth would these people be interested in talking to me? Hell, even I wouldn't be interested in making friends with a person like that.

Obviously, something must change.

As the week progressed, our weather has warmed up again. Our high temp should top 80F this weekend. And I am going to use that as my inspiration. Why should my life be cold and bland? It should be bursting forth with color. It should at least be interesting. So I'm thinking about what I should do next. I need to do something that requires me to get out of the house & meet new people. Take a class or something. See more shows. Just start LIVING again. I'm open to suggestion, so if you have any ideas, lay 'em on me. In the mean time, I'll be doing a bit of research next to an open window.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Mary
My name's Cherry and I think that what you wrote in this post was spot on for a great many people. Whether they work full time at home or have a 'high powered' job, every one of us has those moments of feeling like we have nothing to offer. But then it passes, like the weather, and we're back on track. Thank you for being so honest.

Cherry x

Mary said...

Thanks so much for your kind words, Cherry. Here's hoping my optimism sticks around after the nice weather fades! By the by, I love your website. Beautiful photos!