A couple of weeks ago, I was babysitting at a playground.The kids has lots of other kids to play with, so I just sat on the side. Although my initial instinct was to take out my phone like all of the rest of the adults, there was something so captivating about this society of munchkins that I finally gave my phone some much-needed R&R.
Within a few minutes, I saw a little boy fall off of the monkey bars. Immediately, he was surrounded by ten other children who came to his rescue. They all crouched down to his level and asked him if he was ok. One girl decided to take control and she told the other kids to each grab an arm or a leg and they carried the boy across the playground. Although they were clearly well-intentioned, they giggled so much that they then dropped the boy. The leader paused for a moment, abruptly left the scene, and returned seconds later with a stroller. This time, she instructed the other children to lift the injured party into the stroller. Once that mission was complete, the entire group pushed the boy around in the stroller as if it was a wheelchair for the duration of their playground time.
First of all, you may be wondering what happened to the boy. Well, I’m sure he was totally fine. Children fall off of the monkey bars all of the time, and I think he enjoyed his “hospital stay” very much. Second of all, you may be wondering why I’m sharing this story. As an adult, I have noticed how much energy I have put into my own fear of failure. But why? Look at the little boy… He technically “failed” when he fell off of the monkey bars, but instead of the failure getting to him, he was then taken care of by a caring community and got to go on an even more exciting adventure.
Since I’m trying to create some pretty big things in my life right now, it seems important to pause. I want to acknowledge the areas in which I am failing so that I can change course. OK…I have to admit that I still DO NOT like the sound of the word failure.. I don’t want to give it so much power. For now, maybe I can just say the areas in which I am “falling off of the monkey bars”???
#1) Funky Fridays- When I started writing my Funky Friday blogs and making Funky Friday TV episodes, I had such high hopes. When I finally decided to follow my heart on a creative path, I was terrified and needed a little inspiration. I wanted to make everyone’s Fridays a little funkier by doing the same. Well, I quickly found myself trying to produce quantity over quality. So, in the spirit of the monkey bars, it’s time for a REMIX!!! Starting in June, I will be publishing either a blog or a Funky Friday TV episode every month. I hope that this remix is much funkier…
#2)Biological Clock-Just in case you don’t know, I have been creating a web series called “Biological Clock” for the past year and a half. I have a group of insanely talented actors, directors, musicians, and crew members working on the show. We are starting to get ready to shoot the series over the next couple of months, but there is just one problem. The script for my pilot episode was AWFUL! My friends are all amazingly supportive people and many of them found a lot of beautiful synonyms for “awful.” However, writing a good script is hard-work and my first try would have been really great if I was still in Kindergarten… So, I’m going to try again until I can make it come alive.
The boy who fell off of the monkey bars taught me that I shouldn’t spend so much time being afraid of failing. I hope that we can all find the courage to go after the things we desire in life, and if they don’t work out, in the words of Aaliyah, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.”
Wishing you all lots of courage and wishing my New Yorkers some sun!
Have a Funky Friday!