"Our Town"

This past Saturday I watched "Our Town," a play by Berkeley's Performing Theater, with Nastya and Josie. I decided to go since I wasn't able to study with all of noise at my place. We grabbed dinner then headed over to Zellerbach. Nastya said that the play was going to be funny. The play was very thought provoking. The opening scene, I knew that the play was not going to be funny. The narrator foreshadowed death at the beginning of the play. The first half was very confusing, there was so many characters, you didn't know who was who, they were always in a rush. I like the second half of the play much better. It was slower and the story was easier to follow. The message of the play is to enjoy life and to not be hung up on little things. It is also about living in "the moment." Because so many of us go through our daily tasks without really "living" in the present. Most of us are dead to the world and we don't notice the changes that are taking place in front of our faces because we are so absorbed within our own bubble. In essence we really aren't not living and enjoying every aspect of life. Life is beautiful. We don't see until it is too late. We take for granted people that are important to us. We are only left with our memories when someone passes. I am guilty of this too (not valuing someone/thing enough until it is gone). When I go home to visit my parents for the holidays, I like to silently sit and watch my mom in the kitchen. I often think to myself "where has the time past?" I start to notice that I am getting older which means that my mom is also aging. When we are gone, what is important are the people... not the empty house, the jewlery or money.

The director is very clever to show the first half of the play how absorb the characters are with their lives and how busy everyone is. During the second half of the play I was holding in my tears. Because you can't go back and change time. It is painful looking back at how your life use to be. I just learn to appreciate what I have more now than ever. I'm looking at life from a different view. I try to be positive most days by laughing. Everyone should take time out in the day to smell the roses, read a book, go for a walk, or indulge in good food. It's the little pleasures in life that people miss out on when they forget to experience life. They might as well be dead. Dead to the world. They are like zombies, living but not really "living."

The director successfully intertwine his support of gay marriage into the play. It was very clever of him. Afterwards, the girls and I went and got drinks at the bar. Why not? It was a Saturday night.

Because of this play, I know that everything will work out for the best (even my roommate troubles). I don't need to stress about it. I can finally breathe again. And continue to enjoy living in the moment.

xoxo,
Kat