You know how you can meet people at just the right time? And how they can say just the right thing, at that moment…something others have probably said before, but the way this person says it, it finally clicks? It makes sense all of a sudden. Their voice breaks through to your subconscious and you get it.
Well, that happened to me this week. I had coffee with an old acquaintance on Monday. He was the artistic director for the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, when I worked there seven million years ago. He directed me and got the best audition out of me, in my life. That is no small feat. I am not really the best in audition situations. I get psyched out by the other actors, I get caught up in trying to read the casting directors mind…it pretty much sucks. Well, he is now the artistic director of the Ordway in St. Paul and we were having a wonderful chat about the state of the arts these days. I mentioned to him that I kept hitting a mental wall when it came to auditioning and he said that he remembered that audition I did for him all those years ago. He remembered when I came into the room he said to himself, “There’s a girl who knows who she is.” That was so powerful to me. I forgot about having faith in myself like that, you know? I keep trying to give them what they want, instead of just knowing what it is that I do well. It just clicked.
I think we could all use that lesson. Too often, we get caught up in trying to be what other’s need instead of just knowing ourselves. Being true to ourselves.
Let’s give thanks that we meet who we are supposed to meet when we are supposed to meet them. That if we are open to learn and to teach, there is a world of knowledge out there that will let us be the best us we can be. How great is that?
