Last Sunday I went camping... Well, if that's what you want to call it.
We slept in a tent, we built a fire, we ate smores... it sounds like we went camping.
However... we were right next to a busy highway, and there were cop helicopters circling and there was electrical outlets at every campsite. It was just bizarre. It was the ultimate way to camp without camping. It was ridiculous.
But, do you know what I was not doing? I was not sitting at home in front of my TV or computer. I was not lazy on the couch. I was not channel surfing for no reason. I was not waisting my time.
I was creating a fire with wood, paper plates and junk. I was putting up tents and laughing. I was spending quality time with Gina without the distraction of a coffee shop or a movie theater.
We went kayaking. Gina played her ukulele while riding a surrey.
It might have been ridiculous, but it was also a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of not boring.
I'm creative. I just am. I like to dream up ideas and write and build and edit, but most of all I love to dance. When I'm not dancing or choreographing, there's a hunger.
A hunger to do something new.
A hunger to create.
It's as if the dances are in my brain fighting to get out. There are some dances that never get a chance to see the light of day. There are some dances that get out and then people hate them. Then, there are those dances that get out and it's like magic.
Last month, I had the chance to choreograph for my church's Easter production. I'm sure you have seen it on my Facebook, but i'm just not sure you know the whole story.
Choreographing something like that is insanity. 28 people, 28 paint rollers, 34 buckets of paint, 12 paint pans, 10 paint balloons, 4 sprayers, and one 19' by 48' wall. (oh and whatever I choreograph has to be reset for second service an hour later....)
I had to get that wall fully painted in 1 minute 45 seconds... (oh and by the way, you don't get a dress rehearsal with paint)... then you get 30 seconds to get everything off stage... and then have a full dance number...
I spent every spare moment of my life planning this thing. Listening to the music over and over during lunch breaks and in my car, choreographing, making maps of where people went, planning how the walls would move, figuring out paint so that it wouldn't look like mud... The list went on and on.
I, luckily, had amazing people around me. Like Nick, the creator, tarp manger, paint tester and director who would sit and discuss it with me. Jessica who sat with me for three hours figuring out where props went. I had Renee, Michele and Jessica choreograph sections so that I wouldn't have the carry the weight all alone.
I was keeping up five jobs and trying to do this thing. By the end I was exhausted and scared out of my mind.
"Scared?" you ask. Yes, scared.
I had to perform in the show in order to have the right amount of people. So, I never saw the show. And since we didn't have a dress rehearsal with paint, I honestly had no idea how it was going to look or what would happen when we threw paint on wooden walls for the first time.
The hardest moment, anytime I create something, is when I'm finally finished, because then I have to set my creation into the light and let people see it. To let them take what I have created and judge it.
Easter is the worst because I have to set my creation into the light for the first time when 12,000 people are watching.
I was terrified.
But I will tell you, the moment the first bit of paint hit the wall and the audience gasped. I knew we created something that would get people's attention.
You know, I will never really understand what it was like to experience this celebration because I was on stage, but I do know this; it was amazing. Not the show necessarily, but the process. To work so hard I was falling asleep at stop lights. To get the chance to work with amazing people. To have so many uncertainties and watch God make it happen. To be totally terrified and yet have more joy than I could imagine while falling on my butt center stage.
In the end my favorite part was not even something on stage. It was watching the dancers celebrate together after the show in the wings because we had come together and we had done something fantastic that celebrated God and the joy he brings. We did this. All of us. And so we celebrated.
If you haven't seen it yet, watch this... it's the recap of the entire service.
You know how when you realize something that seems so obvious it's like a slap in the face? Well, this weekend I got a slap in the face... in a good way.
What does it take to be who you want to be?
First, I hung out with my friend Matt at Malibu Wine for his birthday. So amazing... Here's a little video of the place.
Anyway, I love hanging out with Matt because he's Mr. Goal Setter. He believes in setting goals and going after them. He has a team of people who help inspire and support him. That's awesome.
Then, off to hang out with Jill. (You should remember Jill from triathlon training and Europe.) Hanging out with Jill is like getting a boost of "do what it takes to succeed". Jill is the hardest worker I know. I'm so impressed by her work ethic and her talent.
Then, I headed home and watch the Pixar Story. And something I realized is in every huge success story there is a moment of luck. I have no idea how to get that luck, but here's what I have learned:
I'm going to surround myself with people who love me, work my butt off, and just wait for the moment of luck. If the luck doesn't show up, I know that I have done my best and that's all I can do.
