Sunday, February 19, 2017

The Days After Hershey (Part II)


Thursday, February 9th ...
                                             My friend Mairead invited me to go watch her and her dance troupe perform at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre.  I gladly accepted without any hesitation.   I was feeling stressed out from too much work and grief.
                                            I was in badly need of a diversion.
                                            The performance was excellent. I was so impressed by the dancers' timing, agility, and endurance.  Amazing!
                                             I'm not sure if people were supposed to analyze the performance or not, but I did.  In the first half of the dance, the three performers pushed; pulled; and tossed each other around.  At one moment they seemed to be assisting each other by pulling one another to a standing and position, or dragging them out of the way. At other times they were pushing each other away or turning their backs on one another.
                                             The second half of the performance was lighter, humorous. Each dancer carried an egg, sometimes multiple eggs.  They balanced them on their feet or other parts of their bodies. Eggs were placed upon their closed eyes and inside their mouths.  Eggs were strewn ałl over the stage and the performers tried their best not to smash these fragile little things, but an occasional accident occurred.
                                             The dance was all about life, I thought. The pushing and pulling of humanity, of nature,  constantly changing from the beauty of nurturing of others to the harshness of pushing each other away in anger.  It's all a continuous beautiful and ugly swirling mess in which we are all dancing. A tender cuddle here, nameless people get killed over there. Beautiful sunshine in one place, a terrifying tsunami in another.
                                              The eggs, of course, symbolized the fragility of life, of our environment. Most of us are respectful of the environment, or at least aware of its delicate balance, but there are those who act like they're taking cartons of eggs and intentionally smashing them to smithereens. Bastards!
                                              I realized many things as I was watching Mairead perform. Although I may feel like all of my anchors are gone (by this I mean those who love me unconditionally and are with me consistently), I am not really alone. I have many people who love and respect me. That's fantastic! I am also a member of this beautiful, ugly, swirling mess. I am part of humanity, the nature that envelops us all. Yes, I have this feeling of being alone, but nobody is truly alone. If only we reached out a bit more.
                                                I also realize that I had the same thoughts and feelings (did I really go through this, did this actually happen?) many times before. Hershey was just the newest surreal experience in my life. It wont be easy but I know the pain will subside. I've gone through so much in my life and I've always come through the other side.
                                                 As life changes, so does its tune and I need to find the next rhythm for this dance.
                                                I love you, Hershey!


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