Round of Applause

All right, so I have a blog.

Here it is.

Holla.

So today I went to Disney on Ice. It was my first time. It was okay. Pretty corny, but you know, I'm not five, so it's to be expected that I wouldn't be shrieking when Ariel skated into view. But I for sure sang along, don't you worry.

So the part that stayed with me was when we saved Tinkerbell's life. Yes, we. The audience. Myself included. So we all know in the story of Peter Pan (and I'll be honest, it's a pretty LONG storyline and I usually get a little confused), that at some point Tinkerbell drinks a glass of poison to prevent Peter Pan from drinking it and dying. So 1+1=2, as a result, Miss Tink begins to waver. And she encourages Peter Pan to clap, because, apparently, this is how you save a Pixie's life.

So I will admit that at this point in the show I started to anticipate what was going to happen and yes, got pretty excited that there was going to be some participatory clapping coming up. "We're gonna save her life!" I thought. And we did. And we did a pretty good job--just puttin' that out there. And I thought, "If I were a kid, this would be the part that would be the most magical for me, the feeling that you, by clapping, were helping to save Tinkerbell's life."

A few hours later, now at home, I am realizing that I need some people to clap for me. My work schedule gives me a lot of problems, bottom line being that it does not provide consistency in my life. I also feel quite isolated, as I seem to work when the rest of the world is off work, and vice versa. And by nature, I am not a productive person. I am a creative person, and once when in the act of being active, I am quite active. But left to my own devices, I will watch episode after episode of America's Next Top Model and not get much done. When this continues for months at a time, it makes me pretty depressed.

So I realized tonight that I kind of feel like my sole cheerleader right now, which let's be honest, that's pretty lame:

"Go, Bailey! Good job, Bailey! You're doing awesome!!!"

"Thanks, Self."

Um, no. It's just hard to be one's own accountability partner. I have some fantastic friends in my life, but as I said, my work schedule inhibits my social life, so I don't get in touch with my "outer" cheerleaders, if you will, too often. Only my inner cheerleader.

Now this is my first blog post, and I am rather intimidated, so I am not really going to make this a profoundly amazing post. But what I will leave you with is this: clap for others. Literally, ideally. Make them a little uncomfortable if possible. Start with your friends, and clap for others who you can see need it. And even if you can't see it, they probably need some clapping.

We all need people to clap for us, for our accomplishments (feeding the hungry, or on some days, just doing the dishes), and to encourage us when we're not doing so well. We all miss the mark a lot, and when we try to set our own goals and miss them, very little is going to encourage us to try, try again, unless we've got some applause. I've never thought about this until now, but I really think this is profoundly true and prevalent. Also, we just need others around us to make light of our circumstances. You know those days where you're just down on yourself, like "Bailey! What is the matter with you? Why are you so lazy that you can't do your laundry?!" Well you know, some days that is just not a big deal, but it is hard to tell yourself that. So basically if I had someone standing by to clap for me and say, "You know what, Bailey, you're a winner and a fantastic person so it's quite all right that you neglected the laundry today," well then, I'd feel quite a bit better.

So go ahead. Clap for someone. Start by clapping for yourself right now. Then find a buddy who needs some encouragement. And steer clear of poison.