When Pigs Fly

I have a thing for flying pigs.

You heard me: Pigs with wings, soaring through the air, squealing in delight.

I think it’s because when you hear the phrase, “When Pigs Fly” the implication is:

 “that’s never gonna happen.”

Sounds like a dare to me.
And the people in my family love a good dare.

Once upon a time, when my Father and Aunt were kids…back when the world was sepia colored and the idea of a smart phone was only found in comic books…the two of them were having an argument. Now, I don’t know what the argument was about, but it made my Dad so angry that he threatened to push my Aunt into a nearby rosebush. She looked him square in the eye and said, “You wouldn’t DARE!” Shortly thereafter my Dad found himself getting a good spanking while my Aunt was ridding herself of thorns.

I guess tenacity is hereditary. While I’ve never thrown anyone into a rose bush, I have found myself proving others wrong, not to spite them, but because I know they are confined by some imaginary box that has no hold on me.

When I was 10 years old, all I wanted in the world was a horse. It was all I could talk about. I begged my parents to buy me a horse, but they refused. However, I kept hoping and dreaming. During this time period, I met a girl who disapproved of my desire for a horse. (Seriously, what was her problem?) I will never forget what she said to me when I told her that I wanted a horse: “Yeah, right! Like that’s ever going to happen.” It was a like a dagger in my heart. Yet, it was also like a flame lit under me and from that moment on I didn’t just dream about getting a horse; I worked for it. I did as much research as a girl without the internet could muster. I took horseback lessons. I read books. I sent away for information on getting a free horse. A few years later, I had not one, but two horses that I had received for free. Actually, in retrospect, the first horse that was offered to me, I decided not to take. So, there, Debbie Downer! I see your “Never Getting a Horse” and raise you THREE FREE ONES!

How differently that situation could have turned out if I had agreed with Naysayer Girl. What if I had said, “Yeah, you’re probably right” and devoted the rest of my middle school years to pouring over issues of Teen Beat and listening to boy bands? I shudder at the thought.

Twice today I found myself saying that old adage: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” But truly, it’s more than necessity that gives birth to new creation.
It’s desire.
And passion.
And faith.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen. (Heb 11:1)

Faith is creation.

Creation is making and doing and achieving.

It's seeing the possible inside impossible.

It's believing.
And it’s there.

That little piggy.

Waiting for you to fashion it some wings and set it free.

The next time you hear the phrase, “When Pigs Fly,” (or any relative of that phrase,) I hope you consider it a dare. And I hope it inspires you to push a little harder, think outside the box and make your dreams come true.

I dare you.

Check out Goosezilla on DeviantArt.

No Rest for the Weary

Do you ever have trouble sleeping?

I do sometimes.

Not a lot.

But now and again I find myself staring at the ceiling, waiting for the walls to melt.

My whole family struggles with sleeping. It’s like we’re an anti-sleeping gang, (except for my dad, who we lovingly refer to as the great sleeping bear.) Getting a smart phone certainly didn’t help. Sometimes I’ll play Candy Crush or surf Facebook until I realize that the rejoicing over an early bedtime was for naught, as the numbers ONE ZERO ZERO reflect in my glazed over eyeballs.

There was one night, when I was so worried about getting a restful sleep because of an audition the next morning that I took a single Tylenol PM to help.

NEVER AGAIN.

I could barely wake up the next morning, and I felt groggy and, well, drugged all day.

So much for that audition. Pfft.

Even though I wouldn’t say that I suffer from a sleeping disorder, or anything, I have tried a few little tricks to make getting to sleep easier. And now, I shall share them with you:

Limit Yourself.

This is on practically every list, ever, but just in case you forgot: Don’t drink any caffeinated beverages after 4pm.
I know.
Seriously.
That early.
If you think you're one of those people that aren't affected by caffeine and you can't sleep at night...well, just keep telling yourself that.

Get Quiet.

Allow yourself some quiet time before actually trying to sleep. 20-30 minutes of quiet reading, meditation, or prayer (whatever floats your boat) can allow your mind and body to start coming down into a restful state.

Get Noisy.

My brother used to have a white noise machine in his guest bedroom and I hated it and I kind of wrote off the idea of white noise. However, with the advent of my trusty smart-phone, I discovered an app called, you guessed it, White Noise, and it is now one of my most favorite things. There are several different ambient sounds to choose from. My favorite is crickets. It sounds like it did outside my bedroom window in the house I grew up in aka Happiness.

I can sleep right through it.

You can also choose options like Thunderstorm, Train, Plane in Flight…you get the idea. And the best part of all this? That sucker is FREE. Google Marketplace. You can thank me later.

You're Getting Sleepy...Verrrry sleepy!

Hypnosis is the bomb-diggity. Some people are weird about this one, but I’m telling you, it works wonders. I got interested in self-hypnosis when I was about 14 and then sort of forgot about it until a couple years ago. I now use hypnosis regularly and it’s really quite fantastic. Try using a hypnosis audio session designed for sleep or deep relaxation (i.e. there’s no wake-up call at the end.) Free Hypnosis Treatment has some good ones, plus your hypnotherapist has an adorbs Northern British accent. Hypnosis works differently for everyone, by the way. For example, I almost always go into a meditative state while listening to a hypnosis audio, but my brother said it helped him sleep by guiding his mind through the hypnosis session so his mind wasn’t racing through all the things he was going to have to do the next day.

Consistency is Key.

Go to sleep at the same time every night. My actor friends are laughing at this one. Heck, I'm laughing at this one. 

                         

While this one is nearly impossible for many of us, myself included, it’s probably one of the most practical ones on this list. We all have an internal clock. Our bodies know when we need rest, and if we’re consistent about it then we’ll get better sleep. Promise.

Well, those are my personal tips and tricks for helping ME go to sleep. What are some things you do to help yourself get a good night’s rest? Or better yet, what do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night?

With Great Princessing Comes Great Responsbility

            Some of you know I’m an actress by trade and I am currently playing a princess at a local theatre for young audiences. This week we had daytime performances for local schools and afterwards we gave the kids the opportunity to ask a few questions. One that took me by surprise was, “Why is the Princess so pretty?” This was not a judgment, but rather a compliment turned into a question. It really caught me off guard, so I responded with some deflecting comment about the wonders that makeup can do for a person. As the cast left the stage, I walked by two children: a sweet looking girl and a boy with a faux-hawk. The girl caught my attention and said emphatically, truly wanting me to grasp it, “You really are pretty.” The boy tagged on, “Yeah, even I think so!” Backstage I found myself making comments about how much I loved those children, and how they made my day and how kids say the darndest things. While I knew the children had good intentions, I was troubled somehow. But, I decided to dismiss it, take the compliment and let myself feel good about it.

            One of the things I love about this particular theatre is that we have a meet and greet after every show where the kids can come and get pictures and autographs. Today, after the first show, one little girl came up to me and asked, “Is it easy for you to play a princess since you’re naturally pretty and your hair is the perfect length?” Instead of answering the question, I thanked her profusely and told her I was glad she thought I made a good princess. Oof. There was that troubling feeling again.

            Again, I went backstage and retold the tale of the cute child and allowed myself to bask in the approval of my young audience. It feels good to be accepted. It feels good to be told you’re attractive. So, why was I feeling haunted by these little interactions based on appearance?

            The answer came to me while I was “waiting in the wings” at the beginning of the second show. I have about 10 minutes of downtime at the beginning of this production. I use it to fix my hair, make sure all the parts of my costume are in the right places, etc. As I gazed in the mirror I realized what I wish I had said to that little girl who assumed that it was easy for me to princess because I was pretty: Being a princess isn’t about what you look like; It’s about how you treat other people. That troubling little pang of guilt I was feeling was not about accepting compliments or believing I was pretty enough, but that I was somehow perpetuating society's definition of what a princess should look like. (I take some solace in the fact that I am much curvier than your average princess, a fact that was seemingly unnoticed by my audience members.) I did not want them to think you had to be pretty to be a princess. I wanted to be a princess that all children could look up to and want to be like, not necessarily look like.

            When I think of princesses, both real and fictional, I think of how good and kind they are. From the humanitarian efforts of Princess Diana to Princess Jasmine’s (almost tragic) generosity to a hungry child…I was learning from their actions. I was learning what it meant to be good. And that goodness is what made the princesses of my childhood so beautiful. Thinking back to the question of that dear little patron: “Is it easy to play a princess since you’re naturally pretty?” No. No, it’s not, little girl. Because what makes me beautiful isn’t the length of my hair, the color of my skin, or any other physical attribute! It’s how I choose to treat others. And treating others well is a difficult dance, that I fail at, often, but strive to do well.

Obligatory Doctor Who quote that fits so perfectly here, it's stupid!

            We have four more performances before I hang up my princess crown. Next weekend, I will have the privilege to look into the faces of hundreds of children and hear what they think about this show and about my Princess. While I will be humbled, flattered and genuinely pleased to hear that I am beautiful, if they choose to share that with me, I hope it will not only be a surface kind of beauty they see, but something much deeper and lasting.