Opening Up

I think one of the more interesting things about having your own business is that process of opening up in the mornings. I’m sure everyone has a procedure - I know I do. There are days it’s very automatic and I pass through the routine already preoccupied with what’s coming next in the busy-ness of a life pretty much ruled by a google calendar. But one day recently, the Lord reminded me to open my eyes and look at what I was doing and what was around me.

I unlocked the door to a studio that I used to talk about incessantly with no concrete plan or hope of ever having a place. I pass by the beautiful studio sign that we had made with a little money my dad left to us. I turn on the Keurig that was donated and think of our desire to have a “coffee shop” alongside the studio, a “gathering place” to relax, talk, study, share and learn. The twinkle lights were put up for our first “interactive/immersive” Aureus performance and have now become a regular feature. O'Shaughnessy's lines about “We are the music makers” is always near the front door. I turn on the A/C control that is hidden behind the word “Inspire.” When I walk by the stage that was built by my loving husband I can recall its history and be thankful for the annual upgrades and the abundance of donated costumes stored underneath.

As I go to the stairs I pass signs - signs made by students and parents to give people reminders, directions and inspiration. The stairwell has pictures of children who are now teens, and teens who are now adults with kids of their own. The next A/C control says “Cling to what is good.” On the wall is an unfinished phrase in gold lettering about the fact that we are all precious as GOLD and an unfinished work. I’ve complained for years that the lettering is unfinished - but maybe that’s exactly as it should be so we are reminded that we are still “loading…” (this year’s Vessels of GOLD theme) and will never be finished this side of eternity.

The diffusers with beautiful scents from oils sent by another alum bring a smile as I consider how many will get a long workout that day, and wake up computers that were also gifted to us. Three real pianos - what a luxury - and now a keyboard that works.

I sit at a desk that sat at the homes of two good friends before it went to my home, and eventually to my office. A roll-top desk - always thought those were so cool and would hide the clutter that I can’t seem to avoid for very long. (Note: rolling down the top to cover the mess only works for neat people. Messy people have such a mess that they can’t roll the top down anyway.) I see one of the paintings my mom did in her retirement years, and see with fresh eyes a sign about my life sometimes being a full-blown circus that I saved from a calendar given to me by one of our precious moms years ago.

As I sit at this desk, I see a painting by one of the cast that always reminds me of how glorious it will be to be lifted from this world into my Father’s arms, and I see a drawing by another former student of a baby elephant clinging to her mom and trusting her direction. I see flowers and sayings and quotes - and calendars. There is a book about Sondheim (whose work we love) and a live blue fish named Gershwin. The funny ceramic worm from Cedar Key with a crazy starfish on his back became a gift from me to Emily - I don’t know if we ever decided who was who, but maybe it just depends on the day. There are lists of every student in every group prominent for constant reference and reminder of the precious lives we are privileged to touch each week, and cubby boxes naming every teacher we are blessed to have.

I could go on for pages. So many things that remind us of the daily grace and gifts that are so thoughtfully given to us by our loving Father. At the end of the day, I am often exhausted and just anxious to get home to dinner, family and rest. At the close of the day, the lights go off and the eyes droop, but I remain thankful to have this privilege - for whatever time given to me - of overseeing this special Gathering Place.

Why Won't They Go?

“Everybody loves a [piano, ballet, voice...you name it] recital.” Not. Who goes to those things? Parents and grandparents. Why? For the most part, love. Love of the student, and sometimes love of the art. So if you’re not a close family member, why are you getting invited to shows at Talents Unleashed? Because our shows are different. Yeah, right.

But they are! Take Aureus, for instance. As we go into our second (and final) weekend of shows, we find we have invited and begged and coerced everyone we know to come out and see what we’ve done together. There are no “stars” in this group. Some good singing and acting - and a LOT of entertainment that comes from every individual in this group contributing some of their own individual gifts and ideas, sanding out conflicting opinions, and practicing together to get it right.

What do you get out of it? An interactive, entertaining evening with your family and friends in an intimate environment where the performers are up close and personal. There are always surprises. What’s one of the biggest surprises for people who have never had this experience? Fun and joy. For two hours, you get to put aside some of the cares of the day - but not to just forget reality - but to bring balance to the realities of life with something good and wholesome. Yes, wholesome - does that sound as unappealing as processed meat? Then you need to do a self-check. Laughter does good like a medicine!

These people are just like you. And they have something to share. We use our God-given gifts and talents and we put together something new. You’re invited because we want to share the fun with you. It’s not a story you’ve ever heard before, and not something you’ve ever seen before. Why not find out what all the fuss is about?

Rehearsal pics - this is what it looks like...hard work and a lot of confusion!

The Airplanes

We just had my precious first grandson for a visit here in Miami. As with many visitors, we ended up taking a run down to “Robert is Here” - a pretty cool touristy place with lots of exotic fruit, local honey, smoothies, a kind of “petting zoo” and more.

Now Leo is three and so his interests can come and go pretty quickly and his tastes are sometimes unpredictable. Seeing the fruit stand was pretty cool. He LOVES fruit. He ran here and there and saw things we pointed out, and was pretty happy with the honey samples, too. We decided it was time to go see the animals so we headed through toward the back end of the property. To get there, we passed through a work area of sorts where fruit is sorted, cut and prepared for the vending area. At the end of the counter, right at 3-year-old eye level - was a toy airplane. It was big enough to take two hands to hold and bright and shiny and new. It wasn’t the kind of thing they would sell there, so I suppose some poor child had left it behind and was maybe even still somewhere in the vicinity. Those details would be unfathomable to this child. He just saw it - and wanted it. You would think in his mind that it was the biggest, most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

We could even imagine he had set his mind on such a toy long ago and finally found what he’d been waiting for all of his little life. So incapable of reason (although we did try), the only thing his daddy could do was scoop him up and take him kicking and screaming in the direction we had been trying to head before the distraction. We stopped to see a really cool toucan - but he could not see it or enjoy it because his little mind was on that airplane. I thought the entire day was ruined and that his life would never be the same without that airplane.

Now, if you’ve been to “Robert is Here” in any recent years, you may already know what’s coming. But he didn’t. We carried on past the animals - and then he saw - the planes! REAL planes. You could climb in them. They were just shells of what used to be real flying machines. You could move levers and buttons and push on pedals. The former little toy plane that he wanted so badly was completely forgotten - because he had found a whole new level of interactive joy. I’ve no doubt he could have stayed there for hours. And he discovered something else - even though he’s not conscious of it yet - he loves mechanical things. How does it move? How does it work? Let’s try each and every button and lever and gear and see what happens.

But then what happened? Those cute little blue eyes spied a bunch of toy cars - the kind you could ride in - when you’re a toddler. He barely fit inside. He ran over and crammed himself in one after another, forgetting for a time the joy of the much more complex planes. He was finally convinced to spend a little time with the animals - and then he remembered how much he loved the planes, and we revisited the joy. And then - tractors! He had to sit on each one - and try all the levers and gears.

It was very hard to convince him to go back to the car. But the toy airplane that meant so much to him at first was never mentioned again. His father’s insistence in tearing him away from his “toy joy” had opened his eyes to such great things. And were they so great? Well, not to diminish “Robert” and his lovely place, but there is even more out there - there are real planes and real tractors that really fly and run and work. He just saw a glimpse - a shell of the real thing. Will we follow up this story one day with tales of a boy who became a pilot? I have no idea.

I do know this, however. I see myself all over this little story. I have again been thinking lately about how often we have our sights set on something that is “good.” We want it. We ask for it. We pray for it. We claim it. And God says, “no.” And we wonder what we did wrong. It wasn’t a bad desire. It wasn’t evil. “Why does God always punish me by not giving me what I desire?” Maybe, just maybe - we have to get pulled away from something “good” to see something “better.” And then - is “better” all there is? Maybe - or maybe not. Do we find something better only to be pulled away by some toy we’ve outgrown? Do we appreciate the gifts that may have awakened in the discovery process? Will the experience teach us to accept a “no” and appreciate more?

What toy airplanes might be in our lives that keep us from moving forward, or have us looking backward at what we thought we missed? Looking forward to a new year and (gulp) all that the loving, heavenly Father may want to show us!