Life in the Front Row
My family and I stopped
buying Christmas presents for each other many years ago. Instead we give part of the money we were
spending on mostly stupid stuff to organizations we support, and use the rest
to treat ourselves to a concert or other venue during the holidays. This year, we splurged on front row seats to
Cirque Du Soliel’s “Volta.”
We started our holiday
tradition with Cirque’s shows with “Quidam” in 1996, which starred a Hayward,
Ca local. It has always been a great
treat to be in that front row, to be so close to the performers; close enough
to see the joy on their faces as they perform impossible feats along with the
seamless teamwork and magnificent talent from all over the world that makes the
evening so magical. The shows may differ in act, plot and story, but the
consistent theme is the wide-eyed “oohing and ahhing” we audience members do at
everything.
This year, we were again in
the front row smiling, laughing and clapping at the unicyclist and his partner
who were doing crazy acrobatics while they circled the stage at breakneck
speed. And then it happened. Just as they hit the curve in front of us,
the cyclist lost control sending the unicycle flying right at our heads. Fortunately, our daughter was quick enough to
catch it, and as the audience of thousands let out a collective sigh, she
calmly rose from her seat and placed it back onto the stage. As the act resumed, we were all assured that
no one had been hurt and the only casualty was a glass of spilled red wine.
Of course, I am thinking what
does this all mean? Well, I decided that
it was a good example of living life in the “front row.” It is where you see things up close, where
you can reach out and touch and in some cases, be touched, and where you can feel.
Sure, the front row has its risks but it also has the most vivid and
memorable rewards. It can cripple you
with sadness and bring you back to immeasurable joy. You can’t always be
prepared for it and have to take it as it comes, but that’s how life is. It is the raw and the real. It is the place where the wine gets spilled
and everybody ends up just fine.
So be it physical,
metaphorical, spiritual or virtual, I hope you go there as often as you can. I
hope you smile and clap and stomp your feet.
I wish you the joys and excitements of life in your “front row” for the
New Year and always.
Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
Copyright © 2018 by Sheryl J. Bize-Boutte
All Rights Reserved
