Up

12.08.2010

I went to an event last night with comedians Dick Cavett and Mel Brooks and, in addition to laughing my butt off, I discovered something about entertainment that I had either never connected or had forgotten about. There was a moment when Mel Brooks broke into character and began to tell a story in a voice for little kids about meeting Dick Cavett for the first time. It was a fictional story but a very creative one, like you’d find in a storybook.

At this point I realized what makes a great entertainer: the ability to never lose one’s inner child and the inability to lose one’s sense of inquiry, wonder and amazement. To be able to draw people in to your world without them realizing it is an incredible art; one that I’ve just recently begun to learn about, though I have a long way to go and much to learn. I can only hope that the imagination that I’ve always had and that now am learning to put down on paper doesn’t disappear and/or get lost in the daily struggles of parenthood and the constant discipline that must occur. I want to continue taking flight aboard space ships or become a pirate dressed in jewels or hide from ghosts because I’ve lost that part of me before under a tent of obligations. I’ve recently rekindled that spirit and I don’t want to ever lose it again.