Thursday, September 30, 2010

Hey, Mamas - Live Your Life!


Over a decade ago, I had the honor of performing in the national tour of the Broadway musical, "Rent."  A predominant theme of the story is "No Day But Today," meaning "live today to the fullest - who knows what tomorrow may bring."  Now, many years later, here I am...a mom, a wife, an actor, a teacher, a director, a writer, a homemaker, a "wake-up at 6:30-get the boy off to school-come home-feed the pets-pay bills-clean dishes-makes phone calls-memorize lines-return emails-research scripts-vacuum floors-pick up boy from school-help with homework-play Legos-fix dinner-go to the theatre for an 8:00 performance-come home at 11:00-crash on the couch" mama...it would have been easy to have let the theme "No Day But Today" evaporate from my daily life.  But somehow, as I move through my third decade, that theme is resonating stronger than ever.

A voice teacher, years ago, said to me, in a melodramatic tone, "Women don't come into their voices until their mid-thirties."  Meaning, that a woman's voice does not fully mature until her 30s.  But, I think there was more to her statement than just that.  There is something about the mid-thirties...the fact that at this point in our lives we have now experienced births and deaths, dealt with emotional ups and downs, made friends, lost friends, reconnected with old friends, made money, lost money...  Many of us have seen the world - it's treasures and it's tragedies.  We now have some "life experience" in our personal tool belt.  And we have opinions, and goals, and passions, and dreams based off of those experiences.  And we have learned how to juggle, to some degree, the home life with the work life.  And we must never forget to seize each day and live it to its fullest.  We are equipped to juggle all those balls in the air and LIVE!

What is that Mark Twain quote?

“Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.”

What are some of your passions?  How do you live each day to the fullest?    

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Responsible Back to School Shopping


Yesterday, my son and I did some back-to-school shopping.  Continuing in the tradition of his previous Montessori school, we stayed away from the Star Wars backpacks, Power Ranger lunch boxes, and logo-ed tee shirts.  We allow him to play with these things at home, but have always kept the "commerciality" out of his learning experience at school.  He willingly agreed to the more plain backpack - and actually really likes it because it looks like an "explorers" backpack.  
The lunch box and water bottle (made by Crocodile Creek) are both environmentally friendly and still look cool.  The bamboo utensils we bought for his lunch box are made by To-Go Ware, and come in a handy pouch.  When shopping for some of the school supplies for the classroom, we purchased Seventh Generation brand paper towels and tissues.  Also, paper was listed on his supply list, so we were sure to buy paper that had come from renewable wood from certified and responsibly managed forests.  
These days I don't even think twice about shopping in the most responsible way that I can.  Having a child has taught me this.  And raising him through a Montessori education has supported this lifestyle.  I know when my son goes to school, other kids will also bring their lunch boxes, sans plastic baggies.  Many of them will have stainless steel water bottles.  And there won't be the lure of the Transformer tee-shirts or Sponge Bob sweatshirts to distract him from his learning experience at school.